Life in LA (Dylan Sprouse Fanfic)
by lovesickbabe28
Summary: *Also on Wattpad under @lovesickbabe28!*Everything changes for sixteen-year old, Aria Evans when her family decides to move to Woodland Hills, CA from New York City. Going to school, making new friends, getting used to the hot scorching sun, and most importantly, she has to deal with how much different her life becomes when she meets a certain someone.
1. We Meet in Detention

_**Hi lovely fanfictioners! So, I recently came up with this idea and decided to publish it. Instead of using the characters from the show, I decided to use the real ones. This is mostly Dylan Sprouse, since I am absolutely in love with him! But you'll see others throughout this story as well! I didn't proof-read it so please forgive me for any mistakes and if you have any suggestions, feel free to share them with me.**_

_**Lots of Love**_

You know we all have that one life-changing moment? That one event, decision, confession, action that changes everything, including yourself as you realize just what kind of a person you really are from the inside. Well, I can sure say that I have truly experienced that. Ever since my parents moved to LA, life had taken a whole sixty-degree flip for me. I lived a happy, joyful like in New York with all my friends but now that I was here in this desert-like place, I couldn't help but feel frustrated at everything. I complained to my parents every time, but they chose to ignore me, like always. That was only because I was the youngest of our family. My family only consisted of four people-my parents, me, and my older sister, Zoey. Zoey and I never were on friendly terms due to the huge difference between our beliefs and personalities. If you asked me, my sister was a total bitch that I would happily murder if I was allowed to. I hated her even more when she actually tried to talk my parents into moving to LA. Why on earth would she do that? First, it would annoy the fuck out of me, and second, she wanted to become a Hollywood actress. Psh, like that would ever happen.

I made sure not to snicker out loud at that thought as I turned the hallway of my new school and walked towards where my locker was. A month. It had been at least a month since I started school here, and let's just say that, even though I had been successful at making friends, everything still managed to feel dull without my old ones, the ones I grew up with and shared many memories with. Sigh, nothing could be done now.

I bent down and turned the combination. My locker opened up and I unzipped my bag to throw all my books in the locker only to fill my bag up with junk food I had stored in my locker. Hey, you never know where you may end up. Knowing me, you'd rather expect me to end up lost in a forest than in my class. What would I do then? Eat books?

The hallway was deserted since class had long started. That was why I jumped when I heard a voice behind me. I turned around to have my eyes come in contact with the School's Security Officer. She placed her hands on her hips as she looked at me.

"Ms. Evans, care to explain to me why you're here piling your bag with food when you should be in class?" she questioned in her authoritative tone.

"Ms. Cuppet, care to explain why you're here interrupting my business when you should be keeping the school safe?" I mimicked her tone. She shook her head at my usual behavior and motioned me to follow her.

"Come on, to my office, right now." She commanded, not giving me another chance to protest. With a sigh and slouched shoulders, I followed her up until we reached the fourth floor where her office was.

"Take a seat, I'll be right back after calling your mom." she said, before disappearing behind the door. Great, another reason for my mom to yell at me. Seriously, this officer needed to calm the fuck down. Sighing, I dropped my bag on the floor and plopped down on one of the seats. The office was huge but was dimly lit. It was hard to read the posters on the wall. Why would she keep so dark in here?

"You must be the new girl," I heard a source of voice coming from beside me. I turned my head towards the left to find the most gorgeous steel gray eyes come in contact with mine. The boy had shaggy, dark blonde hair that shined in their glory and the most perfect facial features. Something about him seemed very familiar...but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. He was lazily leaning back on the chair.

"Enjoy what you see?" he cocked a smirk at me. Cocky, huh?

"Haha," I said with sarcasm, "No. It's just that you seem familiar."

He sat up straighter so the light from the lamp across the room directly hit his face. Seeing it in a much more clear light, I nearly jumped up from my seat. It was none other than Dylan Sprouse, the guy who played Zack Martin on the Suite Life show. I had known that he attended this school for a social experiment along with his twin brother, Cole, but I had never really seen either of the twins in person up until now.

"Hey, you're Dylan Sprouse!" I found myself saying.

"Really?" He asked with a fake shock in his tone. "I didn't know. Thanks for reminding me!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't do that shit with me mister." I warned him. He grinned.

"I like it." I heard him say. Like what? I was confused.

"Like what?" I asked him. He leaned forward and clasped his hands together, his elbows resting on his knees.

"I like that you're not going crazy like all those other girls just because I happen to be a celebrity." he said, looking at me giving me the most gorgeous smile ever. Wait!

Why did I just say that? I mean, sure the guy is hot, but that doesn't mean that I get to compliment every single little detail of his in my mind.

"Psh!" I exclaimed with a wave of my hand. "I'm not like those girls. They practically worship you and I can't find a logical reason behind it."

He grinned again. "You can't really blame them, sweetheart." there goes his ego again.

"How come you're different?"

I placed one of my legs over the other and looked at him, his eyes were filled with curiosity. "Do you breathe oxygen?"

He blinked, obviously confused of my random question. "Er..yes. Duh."

"Do you eat food for survival?"

"Yes. But why-"

"Good!" I flashed my dimples. "I breathe and eat food too! See? We're not that different. You're a human and I'm a human. There's no reason for me to go all crazy over you just because of your career."

He looked at me with for what seemed like ten seconds, just sitting there blinking. For some odd reason, having his eyes glued to my face made my cheeks burn and I was thankful for the dark room because I didn't want him to see me blush for no reason.

"Stop staring at me." I told him.

"You know," he began talking again. "You're very, very different-"

He waited for me to tell him my name. "Aria." I told him.

He flashed that smile of his again. "Aria."

Damn, the way he said my name with that velvety voice of his-stop it, Aria!

We both took a deep breath and, at the same time, lazily leaned back in our chairs. We sat there for a couple of minutes. The silence was actually comforting, rather than awkward. He finally decided to break the silence as he craned his neck just enough to glimpse over at me.

"So, you're new here. Where are you from?" He asked me.  
"New York." I answered. I felt a shot of pang in my heart at the memory of my home and friends back in NY.

"Oh, I've been there a couple of times. It's really fun over there." he said, looking over at the ceiling in thought.

"Well, no shit, Sherlock." I commented. "It's New York. Of course it's fun over there."

He grinned and shook his head at my comment. "Isn't it hard?" I then found myself asking.

"What is?" he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Going to a public school when you're famous? Plus, don't you have to work as well?"

He took a deep breath before answering. "It was my dad's decision to send us to public school. He wanted us to experience a normal life, you know? I was happy with his decision. I still am, but it's just that fans and paparazzi and constant sneaky photos and people, mostly girls, going crazy all the time can be annoying. Not really normal after all, huh?"

I studied his face for a while. For some reason, I was really enjoying talking to him.  
"I can't even imagine." was all that I could say.

Silence seeped through us again as we both lost ourselves in thoughts. I was still thinking about how hard his life must be. God...

"Hold up, why are you here though?" I then asked, realizing that only people who got in trouble came to the officer's office.

"Ugh, don't ask. My science teacher gave me a bad grade and for a little revenge, I set a stink bomb in his classroom this morning. Someone snitched on me or else I wouldn't be here." He informed. I bursted out laughing.  
"What?" he asked.

"Using stink bombs is so old school." I told him, my laughter coming to an end.

"I know that, dumbass. But that's the only thing I had at the time." he said, and then looked at me. "Why are YOU here?"

"I'm here more than I am in my classes. She found me skipping." I sighed, tired of all these school authorities.

"Yeah, I heard you were the trouble type." He nodded at me.

"I'm not the trouble type." I said, rolling my eyes. " I just have the tendency of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. "

"Psh, yeah right." He snickered.

I opened my mouth to say something but got interrupted as Office Cuppet popped her head into the office.

"Dylan, your dad is waiting for you in the main office. You're going to have a nice little chat with him and the principal." She smiled an evil smile. Dylan groaned and stood up, walking towards the door. He turned the knob and before stepping out, turned to me.

"I hope to see you again, Miss New York." he winked at me, before closing the door behind me. I sat there in awe.

The conversation I just had with him replayed itself in my head. It was oddly comfortable talking to him. And I can't believe that him being a celebrity would find interest in meeting me again. I mean, I had nothing against it but still...  
"Aria," Ms. Cuppet snapped me out of my thoughts. "Let's go. You're going to detention as if right now up until after school ends."

I groaned, getting up and grabbing my bag. Great. Just fucking great.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi! So here's the second chapter. Its just a filler but the actual drama and stuff are coming in the later chapters. However, those chapters will be only uploaded if I get anough reviews. I know I sound very desperate but seriously, if you are a fan-fiction writer, you know the pleasure seeing a review as well as the pain of not seeing any. I hope you're enjoying this story. PLEASE REVIEW!_

Loads of LOVE

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_**REVIEW!**_ **REVIEW!** _**REVIEW!**_

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"I have had it with you, Aria!" Mom yelled at me as she threw the paper in her hand on the kitchen table where I was sitting. "First, you get detentions and now Fs?! Seriously, what do you want from me?"

All the yelling was getting to my head right now and I could just feel the migraine coming. I looked down, trying my best to keep from yelling back at her. This had been the same process ever since I started school here. It's not my fault that I don't wanna listen to my stuck up teachers and,when they give me detentions, can't find a single fuck to give. Mom just doesn't understand this and probably will never.

"I am asking you something, Aria. Answer me." She demanded. That's when I decided to lift my eyes up to meet them with hers, blue shooting daggers at even icier blue.

"I don't like it here," I said through gritted teeth. "I hate everything here. I wanna go back to New York. I want my life back." My mother blinked as she was taken aback by my words. For a while, she didn't say anything and just stood there, staring into my eyes. She finally opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. I understood what that meant. There was no going back. There was no way that my wishes would ever be heard in this household. Frustrated beyond belief, I stood up and stormed out the kitchen door to my backyard.

"Leave me alone." I had muttered before slamming the door. I was thankful that she at least heard that and didn't come after me.

We had a very big backyard that had tall wooden fence surrounding it. Behind the line of these big houses was a forest, which I felt tempted to go explore. I decided against it when I saw that the sun was probably about to set. So instead, I just walked around, trying to get my mind off of things. I was sitting by the pond when out of nowhere, an object comes flying towards it, splashing water across my clothes. I stood up immediately and backed away to see that it was a basketball. Urgh, whoever did this is gonna get a fucking piece of me.

"Oh, I am so sorry miss!" I heard a boyish voice behind me. "I'll be careful next time but can you please pass the ball back to me?" Oh yes, I will. I will pass it right into your fucking face! I thought as I bent down to pick up the wet ball. I froze as I turned around, seeing the face of the guy perched on top of the fence. His expression of shock resembled mine as his eyes widened upon seeing my face.

"Dylan?!"

"Aria?!" We ended up saying each other's name at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I was not expecting this at all.

"The question is, what are _you _doing here?" he asked. Then with a suspicious look on his eyes, he asked, "Wait, are you following me or something? If you wanted an autograph, you know you could've just asked."

I snickered, not being able to contain myself. "Oh, yeah, you wished. And by the way, I live here so don't entertain yourself with that thought."

His eyebrow arched up. "Really? I do too. Right there." He said, pointing backwards with his thumb to the big house that was right next to ours. What. The. Fuck. This cannot be happening. The last thing I want is to be living right next to a celebrity. (Don't get me wrong. Living right next to a famous person is amazing but Dylan here was different. Don't ask me why.)

"Hello?" he earned my attention back. "Now, that the confusion is settled, can you give me back my ball?"

Oh no, I wasn't returning it that quickly. It was because of him that my white pants got ruined. He isn't gonna find his way around this that easy. Flashing him a grin, I tossed the ball up in the air only to let it drop on my index finger as it spun.

"Maybe, I don't wanna give it back to you. At least it will teach you to be careful the next time you wanna launch it in my backyard." I said, with an evil grin on my face. A very playful smirk had appeared on his face as he saw me do the trick.

"Don't tell me that you play basketball."

"But that would be a lie. I have been playing ball since I was little." I simply said with a shrug. The ball was still spinning on top of my finger. I had mastered this technique years ago.

"Come on, Aria. Don't be stubborn and give the man his ball back." He said, and then flashed that playful smirk again. "Or else, I'll have to get it from you."

I cocked my eyebrow before freezing at his sudden action. He jumped over the long fence, landing perfectly on the green grass below. He walked right up to me, coming so close that the tip of our noses almost touched. His deep gray eyes were staring into mine with such intensity that I couldn't find myself to even blink. And my heart? Don't even ask about the speed of it.

"You really don't wanna mess with me when it comes to ball, sweetheart." He smirked before turning back around and climbing the fence. I was so perplexed from the situation that it took me a couple of seconds to realize that it wasn't me spinning the ball on my finger anymore, it was him.

"You know," he said, turning his head back at me. "I'm really looking forward to going to school as well as living right next to you." Flashing that smile of his one last time, he disappeared to the other side of the fence.

It took me some time to come back to my senses. Why was my body reacting like this at my close proximity with him? My heart had calmed down a bit but my cheeks were still burning hot as ever. It shouldn't be like this. Boys never had an effect on me and I was willing to pass limits to keep it that way. As for living with him, oh, living with, or rather, next to none other than Dylan Sprouse was going to be an adventure of its own.

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_**REVIEW AND TELL ME HOW IT IS! PLEASE!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Happy Saturday! Thank you so much to isagrecia  for commenting and following my story. It really does mean a lot to me. So, anyways, I finally got the chance to update and here it is. This chapter is lengthy, I know but I just really wanna get Aria's personality exposed so it would be easier to understand her. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please-**_

_**REVIEW!**_

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"Do you understand me, Aria?" He had asked me this question the millionth time by now. With the phone in my hand, I plumped down on my bed and sighed a yes.

"Good, I better not hear another complain from your mother or any of the school officials. I have to go now and will call again as soon as I get the chance to. I love you sweetheart." My dad said.

"I love you too, Dad." I said, swallowing. "Take care."

"You too, baby girl." With that, we both pressed the end call button at the same time. Deep in thought, I rested my head on the headboard. As soon as we had moved in, my dad was called back to the military. He was a Captain in the US Marines and was barely ever seen home. I always missed him terribly since I was closer to him than I ever was to my mom. Zoey, my older sister, had wrapped Mom around her pinky. Whatever she did, Mom would be proud of it, but, whatever I did, Mom would be against it. So that's why there's no wonder that my mom had talked to my dad about my behavioral change, especially after our little 'talk' yesterday.

"What did he say?" A voice interrupted me from my thoughts. I turned my head to see my Mom leaning on the door frame with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Nothing," I muttered, turning away. "Just that he wants me to behave and that he loves me." I heard my mother take in a deep breath before walking over and taking a seat next to me on the bed.

"Aria," she started, her voice dripping with concern. I had to resist rolling my eyes. She had given me these kind of talks all the time, but never learned the fact that they never had an effect on me. "I may not understand how hard it is for you here since you're so used to living in the city, but, darling, I do know that you're strong enough to pull your way through. Just give it time ok?" She placed her hand over mine, giving it a light squeeze.

"Ok," I replied, not looking her way.

"Alright," She stood up, "Now, off to bed. You have school tomorrow."

I groaned and fell face first into my pillow as she closed the door behind her after leaving. Just thinking about school makes me feel sick to my stomach. And everywhere else. Even though I had befriended a handful of people, I still missed my old ones. I mean, you have to understand, I grew up with my friends in New York. From kindergarten to freshman year, we were a closed group. That won't be the same here, at least not for a long time. Then there are the new teachers here. Teachers back in NY expected me to not show up to class on time, or to not turn in my homework, or to run away in the middle of the class when no one was looking. But here, teachers actually want me to do my work, to actually pick up my pencil for once, how crazy is that?

Just laughing at the thought, I went over to the window to close the curtains when stopped. Right across from my window was the window that belonged to none other than, hopefully you guessed it, Dylan Sprouse. All I could make out was his head facing straight up with a device in his hand. I guessed he was playing his video-game. How odd my life was… Living right next to a star without even knowing. Not only that, but now also having my window face his window. For real, where was my life headed?

Shaking my head, I pulled the curtains together and fell on my bed, immediately droning off.

…

"You have to go!" My friend, who was seeming to be more like my best friend these days, Bree Morgan exclaimed as I slammed my locker shut. "Everyone is going!" She exaggerated.

"Bree," I sighed, turning to her. "I don't feel like going to the party. Especially when its thrown by one of the school sluts." I made a face, resuming my walk as she followed.

"Shh," she placed her finger on her lips. "Don't say that here. If she finds out you, the new girl, called her that, she would make your life a living hell!"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, like it's such a joy now, right?"

"See?!" She stopped me. "This is why I want you to get out and have fun and live again! You're always too pissed off at moving here that you're not realizing that you're wasting this precious time of High School that you have."

"But, what does that-"I started but Bree interrupted me.

"Oh, I don't want to hear it," She said. "I'm gonna come by your house around five and get you ready before we leave at around seven. And I will take you there either in your living form or death form."

"So you're gonna murder me than take my dead body to the party?" I snickered.

"If I have to." She nodded with her nose sticking out, her head held high. I opened my mouth, but before I could get a word in, she walked away. I sighed, and unwillingly made my way to first period.

Having World History the first thing in the morning just put a cherry on top of my rotting cake. I swear, the boredom of that class was immeasurable. Like always, I plumped down in my seat all the way at the back and took my phone out. I started texting my best friend back in NY and felt a pang in my heart as she told me that they were all in gym, just hanging around having fun since the teacher was absent. Fuck my life.

"Good Morning class!" My teacher boomed at the front of the class. I looked up so I won't look suspicious. As I did, my eyes glanced over at this boy whose head was turned towards the back, towards me. He noticed my gaze and smiled before turning back towards the front. I blinked, confused. Weird.

"So, today, we will be talking about…" That was all I heard from my teacher before zoning out into my own thoughts. The whole time, I kept feeling as if I was being stared at. Repeatedly, I glanced over at the same boy, only to see the back of his head. Maybe he was very sneaky and was staring at me without even me realizing.

After, what seemed like forever, the bell finally rang and I proceeded to shove my things in my bag. In that moment, I hadn't noticed that the boy had made his way up to me.

"Hi," he greeted with a smile. "Aria, right?"

"Y-yeah. " I said, taken aback by him suddenly coming over. He extended his hand and I hesitated before shaking it.

"I'm Eric. It's nice to meet you!" He exclaimed. I awkwardly managed to smile back.

"It's nice to meet you too, Eric."

"Wow," He then suddenly exclaimed.

"What is it?" I asked, confused at why he was looking at me like that.

"You have really cute dimples." He commented.

"Oh," I awkwardly laughed. "Thanks!"

He then shifted on his feet and looked at them before looking back up to me. His brown eyes gazing into mine.

"So, I was thinking, that maybe," he hesitated. "Maybe you wanna work together on the project?"

I inwardly sighed a sigh of relief. I thought he was gonna ask me out or something. Thank God. But then, I realized, I had no idea what he talking about.

"What project?" I squinted.

"The one Mr. Green spent the whole classroom talking about." He said as if it was obvious. Yeah, like I was paying any attention.

"Oh right! That project!" I exclaimed, faking a smile. "Yeah, yeah. Sure!"

"Great!" He smiled. "See you around?"

"Sure."

"Bye." He said, walking away.

"Bye."

As soon as he had left, I finally managed to exhale all the oxygen I was holding. Man, I really need to get myself together. Even though I had no interest in guys whatsoever, I can at least learn to keep my cool in front of them. Don't take it the wrong way, I'm straight, but for some reason, I have never found interest in dating. It's pointless. They never really last, so why should I waste my energy on someone? Shaking my head at the thought, I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out the classroom to the crowded hallway.

…..

"Why am I here again?" I asked as Bree locked her car behind me.

"You're here because you wanna live and have some fun!" She exclaimed, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the big house with her. I groaned. The loud music was blasting and I could see people dancing like crazy from one of the big windows. Bree apparently was serious when she said that she would bring me no matter what. I was busy watching TV when she barged into my room and practically forced me into the black dress that I was in. It had small red roses printed on it, and I was wearing black transparent leggings along with it. Accompanied by a black leather jacket and my dark raven hair in loose curls. The stilettos Bree had forced me into were killing me with every step.

As soon as we entered through the door, my eardrums started throbbing due to the loud music. I scrunched my nose at the smell of alcohol everywhere. People were shamelessly dancing in the middle of the huge living room while others were getting drunk and couples were making out. Some were giggling and climbing the stairs up to do you know what. This seriously seemed like a frat party rather than a high school one to me.

"Here!" Bree screamed, shoving a red cup to me. She took a big chug from hers and threw it somewhere behind her. She was already wasted. Great.

"Woohoo!"She yelled at the top of her lungs, throwing her arms up in the air and swaying her hips towards the dancing crowd. I sighed and shook my head. Now what was I gonna do? I didn't see any of my other friends here and started to feel a little out of place. I placed my drink on the table, not willing to drink any in this type of situation.

"Hey! Aria!" I heard a deep voice behind me. I turned around and cursed under my breath as I saw that guy from History class make his way up to me. What was his name again? Eric?

"Hi!" I fake smiled.

"It's me, Eric!" He shouted since the music was really loud. "Remember me?!"

I nodded. "Yeah! I remember!"

He smiled, bobbing his head to the music. If I was right, I think he had had way too much alcohol.

"So," He started talking again. "Who are you here with?"

"Oh, I'm here with my friend!" I shouted back. "But she went off to dance!"

"Ohh!" He then extended his hand. "Maybe we should too?"

Fuck. I was fearing he would ask me that. Dancing with a drunken guy whom I barely knew at a party like this seemed very stupid. Plus, most of the dancing was sexual, specifically grinding. I gulped. Now how do I say no without being mean?

Shithead, my brain scolded. He's drunk. Just say whatever and leave.

"Um, Eric..." I hesitated, not entirely sure what I was gonna say. "I don't really—"

"Hey Eric!" A guy came over and punched him on the arm.

"Yo Man! Sup?!" Eric did a hand shake thing with the guy.

"Nothing, Bro!" He shouted back. He then pointed somewhere far off. "Your girlfriend is looking for you."

"Oh Shit!" Eric exclaimed. "Sorry, Ari. I'll be back!" He then ran off. Did he just fucking call me Ari? I hated that nickname. Shaking my head, I turned to the guy only to choke onto nothing.

"And we meet again," he smiled, slipping his hands in his pockets.

"Dylan?!" I couldn't believe this. Why was he everywhere?

"Gasp!" He acted like a girl. "Little Miss New York remembered my name."

He snickered as I smacked him on the arm. "Stop calling me that!"

He then posed a sad face. "I save your ass and don't even get a thank you?!" He faked wiping a nonexistent tear. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah? What is it that you saved me from?" I questioned, crossing my arms across my chest.

"From Eric" He pointed his thumb over to the direction Eric had left. "It was obvious that you didn't wanna be anywhere near him. I could just tell it by your face.

I blinked, taken aback of how he could possibly tell. Hiding my surprise, I stood up straighter.

"Please, "I said. "I was handling the whole thing pretty well."

He narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, right. Like an expert. Now, come on. Let's go." He then extended his hand out to me. I looked at it and raised my eyebrow.

"I'm not asking you to dance." He answered, as if reading my mind. "I'm offering an escape from this boring party."

"Why me?" I asked.

"Because you look miserable here standing alone and fake smiling at Eric and I am dying for some Subway, now let's not waste time and go." He wiggled the fingers of his extended hand impatiently. I pondered over what he just said. Man this guy really knows how to read me because, as surprising as it sounds, I was starving too and was dying for subway ever since we drove by it on our way to the party. I asked Bree but she didn't stop since she didn't wanna be late to this party.

"Come on…" Dylan sang. "It closes is an hour. I'll buy you a foot long."

Ok, I couldn't give that up. I rolled my eyes and placed my hand in his, making him grin.

"I'm only going for the food." I told him.

"Yes, only the food." He said, and then pulled me through the crowded people dancing around everywhere. When we were outside and music wasn't as loud, I could finally hear the rational part of my brain saying-

"What the fuck, Aria? What the fuck are you doing?"

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That's it for Chapter Three!

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	4. Chapter 4

**Winter Break is finally here and I cannot thank God enough for it! The only thing missing now is the snow! It needs to hurry up already! Anyways, it took a while, but chapter four is finally here! And I can not stress enough to ask you to please review!**

**Thanks and I hope you're enjoying this story so far!**

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I sighed in contentment as I looked over at the raging waves of the ocean. In the dark and starry night, the water looked both amazingly beautiful yet dangerously intimidating at the same time. This environment seemed much better than the one I was at before. The noisy loud music was just making my head throb with pain while this relaxed me down. Not to mention how pleasureful it was to not have an empty stomach.

"Here, I'll go throw it away." Dylan motioned his hand to me. I gave him my empty bag of subway and he bundled it all up with his to go throw it away in the trash can that was twenty feet away from us.

When he came back, he took his seat back next to me on the sandy beach that, at the moment, felt more comfortable than a couch. God, this is such a perfect place to be at. It actually helped me forget about the whole moving here and shit that I didn't want to be bothered with at the moment.

"You like it here, don't you?" His smooth voice distracted me out of my thoughts. I glanced over to see that he was looking at me from the corner of his eyes.

"Of course I like it here. Who wouldn't?" I answered, turning back towards the water. My hair flew in a graceful motion and tickled my neck. I still can't believe that I just left a party with a guy whom I barely knew. Sure, other girls would kill to have this moment with a celebrity but for me, it was different.

"I thought so," He shrugged and turned his attention back to the water as well. "You seriously seemed out of place there."

"I'm really not into alcohol and sexual dancing." I admitted. What was I to hide anyways? It was true. How was getting totally wasted to such an extent that you didn't even know what you were doing and waking up naked in an an unknown place with a stranger fun? If you asked me, they were just add-ons to the list of regrets you would have in the future.

"How'd you know Eric though?" He then asked all of a sudden.

"Well, he's in my history class and I just met him today." I answered truthfully. Now why would he ask me that out of nowhere?

"Oh," He said, " Did you come to the party with him?"

"You mean like as in a date?" I questioned, cocking my eyebrow. He nodded. "I thought he had a girlfriend."

"Yeah, but only like for two days. He is known for banging girls here and there so that's why I was asking." He said, playing with some sand in his hand.

"Really?" I asked, sort of shocked. "He does't give that type of a vibe. He seemed pretty nice."

"How else do you think he seduces girls?" Dylan asked sarcastically, narrowing his eyes. "He gives them the whole nice image and that they could trust him only so he can trick them into bed."

Wow, what a prick. No wonder I didn't really like being around him that much. Guess my sixth sense was ahead of me. But then, why would I believe Dylan?

"But why are you telling me all of this?" I asked.

"I don't know," He simply shrugged. " Just to warn you to stay away from him I guess. I wouldn't like you to be his victim too."

"Yeah?" I raised my eyebrow, smirking. "Why is that?" I craned my neck to look at him.

"Would you like it if someone tried to use your friend?" He questioned. I blinked, did he just call me his friend?

"So now I'm your friend?" I asked.

"Of course." He shrugged as if it was no big deal. "I don't buy food to just anyone. Plus, you're new here and literally live right next to me, you can use a friend." He winked and flashed his smile.

"You make me sound like a pity case." I made a face.

"Isn't that what you are?" He grinned. I grabbed a fistful of sand and launched it at his face, making him get up immediately, trying to get it off.

"Pffff!" He spitted out some of the sand from his mouth as I laughed. "Ugh, my eyes."

"That's what you get for believing that." I pointed my finger at him.

"God, you're so unpredictable, " He exclaimed as if I didn't know that already. "Makes me rethink whether I want to be your friend anymore."

I snorted. "Like I need your friendship to live my life."

I then froze. Friendship..friend...Bree. Oh fuck. How could I leave her there unattended in her wasted state? I stood up and started pacing back and forth.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." Escaped my mouth at a non-stop speed.

"Well, if you're so sure, we can always go in the car." Dylan joked, snorting a laugh as I aimed at his arm for making that dirty joke.

"Shut the fuck up and take me back to the party!" I demanded, panicking at the thought of what the drunk guys at the party could be possibly be doing with her right this moment.

"Are you sure that you-"

"Now!" I yelled. He raised his hands up in surrender.

"Ok, Ok, master. Calm the fuck down and lets' go." He said, walking towards where his car was parked, which wasn't that near by the way since we were sitting really close to the water.

I ran up to his back and pushed him. "Faster, dumbass!"

"Seriously?!" He exclaimed. I pushed/ran us back towards the car and we were on our way back in no time.

* * *

"Why are we going back there again?" He asked, now being the fiftieth time. "I thought we were having a nice date there at the beach." He grinned again.

"Dylan, enough with your stupid jokes," I groaned. "And can't you drive any faster?!"

"Wha- there's a fucking speed limit!" He answered back. "May I ask where you got your license from?"

"I don't have one," I said, a little embarrassingly. Everyone had their permits, except me. "Now, shut up and drive."

"I am driving." He said, as we came across a red light. "Why are we going back there again?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I left a friend there, that's why."

"That's it?" He asked.

"She is totally wasted and I should have stayed there to keep an eye on her. I don't even wanna think about what she might have gotten her wasted ass into." I babbled, placing my head on my forehead as my elbow rested on the car door.

"Oh, what a terrible friend you are!" Dylan said.

"That doesn't help, ok?" I said, not kidding around. I did feel really bad at the moment. What if something had happened? She would never talk to me ever again.

"Hey," Dylan interrupted my thoughts. "Don't worry. Everything is probably alright, OK?"

I nodded and he drove into the street of the house that the party was held at. He parked the car and we made our way there. Strangely, the music was not playing anymore, but as we came nearer, we could here people yelling "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT"

By this time, we ran in there only to hear sounds of smashing and breaking glass over the yelling of the people. What was going on? Dylan made his way through and I followed him. As we stepped ahead, I could make out two figures neck to neck. Two guys seemed to be in a pretty immense fight and it just so happened that one of them looked a lot like Dylan. Cole. His twin brother. Dylan immediately stepped into the fight and tried to pry the two away.

"I'll fucking kill you, you motherfucker!" Cole yelled at the top of his lungs, his nerves popping out along his jawline. Never had I ever seen such an anger on a guy before. Dylan held him by both of his arms as he tried to lunge on the other guy again, who was already drenched in his own blood.

"Cole, leave him. Let's get out of here!" Dylan yelled over the people.

"Let me go!" Cole pushed Dylan away and jumped again on the guy, throwing immense punches mercilessly. By this time, the crowd had gone beyond wild and a lot of people were making a video of it. Uh-oh, I don't think that this would serve as a good reputation for Disney actors.

Dylan, who seemed enraged himself by now, went back to Cole and pried him off of the guy. Grabbing the guy's collar with one hand while keeping Cole away with the other, he pushed the guy into the crowd to give him a chance to escape.

"The fuck are you doing?!" Cole yelled at him.

"The fuck are _you _doing?!" Dylan yelled back at him.

"You don't know what that son of a bitch tried to do!" Cole yelled. "He tried to fuck my girl!"

"What?!" A shocked expression formed on Dylan's face. "Bree's here? Where is she? Is she ok?"

That's when I remembered Bree. I frantically looked around but couldn't spot her anywhere. I turned back to the twins. Was Cold dating Bree? Why didn't she tell me? Fuck that, it didn't really matter right now.

"She's upstairs crying her heart out." Cole yelled as the twins argued.

"And you left her there?!" Dylan said, walking towards the stairs only to be stopped by Cole.

"No," Cole said. "She isn't-she-he ripped her clothes." He choked, swallowing. His eyes glistened, either with tears due to the anger or grief, it was hard to tell. Dylan stopped in the middle of his tracks.

I decided to step up.

"Dylan," He looked over at me. "I'll go check on her."

"Thank you." He nodded.

I nodded back and made my through the crowd of people. I climbed the stairs up to see that the hallway of rooms was dark. All the doors were closed and I cursed under my breath. How am I going to find her? I walked through the hallway, passing doors when I came across a sound of crying. A girl's crying. Peeking in, I found Bree bawled up in a corner, crying her heart out. A knot formed in my throat as I barged in and closed the door.

She flinched and looked up.

"Bree..." I made my way up to her and engulfed her in a hug. She was crying hysterically. Her dress was completely ripped from the top and I remembered her telling me that she didn't wear a bra with it. She was covering herself with her arms. I quickly took off my jacket and gave it to her, zipping it all the way.

"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed. "I shouldn't have left you alone!" I was about to cry too now, which was weird since I'm not the crying type.

Bree shook her head. "No, it wasn't your fault." She choked the words out.

"Are you Ok though. Did that bastard-"

"No," She cried. "I didn't even know what was happening up until he forced me into the room and started touching me inappropriately. I started screaming when he completely ripped the top of my dress. But then Cole came in."

"Thank God..." I whispered. "Come on, let's get out of here." I motioned and she wiped away her tears, nodding and standing up.

"Thanks for the jacket and for helping me." She whimpered. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You're making me feel worse by saying that. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't left-"

"Stop saying that." She interrupted. "Let's get out of here. I don't wanna spend another second at this party."

I nodded and grabbed her arm, leading her out. She seemed to be in a miserable and weak state that made me feel terrible. I wished that Cole had just killed that guy right there.

As we walked down the stairs, I could feel the eyes of people on us. I was thankful to find the twins making their way over to us. Cole immediately engulfed Bree in a tight hug as she started crying again in his shoulder.

"Shh, baby, Its ok. You're fine." He smoothed her.

Dylan came over to me. "Thanks in advance again. Really means a lot."

"She was the friend I was talking about." I told him.

"You and Bree?"

I nodded.

"Oh, didn't know you two were friends." He said. I looked around to find people still staring at us. It all really made me feel uncomfortable, especially now that I wasn't wearing my jacket. My dress didn't exactly scream SLUT but the top wasn't that covering either. I moved my hair up in the front and was thankful that they did a good job at covering. Dylan must have noticed my uneasiness.

"Hey, you know we should leave." He suggested. Cole looked up and nodded. He turned his gaze to me and thanked me.

"No problem." I answered.

"I'll drive Bree home. I wanna spend some time alone with her, if you guys don't mind." He said.

"Oh no, it's fine. I'll take Aria home, you go with her." Dylan spoke for the both of us.

"Thanks bro," He patted him on the shoulder and gave me a small smile before leading Bree out, shooting daggers with his eyes at the crowd along the way.

"Come on," Dylan grabbed my hand and led me out as well.

* * *

**Over two thousand words, weren't easy to write, but after four hours, finally did it. But that's all for chapter four. Hope you liked all the drama and shit. Review, or die. Jk, just review! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know, I know. I should be punished for taking so long but I was busy with family during winter break and now I'm busy with fucking school. But, since we got a day off today thanks to snow, I finally get the chance to update this shit! **

**Thanks to all those who took their time to review and follow my story! It really means a lot to me! **

**Now, on with Chapter 5**

* * *

Sighing, I fished my history binder out of my locker and slammed it shut. I looked over at the locker across the hallway, the one that belonged to Bree. Ever since the incident at the party, she hadn't been coming to school, too afraid to face the people due to embarrassment. I had gone to visit her a couple of times and clearly, she was a wreck. I actually did not know what to do since I had never gone through such a thing, but I was glad that at least nothing more than the ripping of clothes had happened.

Going to history was the last thing I wanted to do right now, mostly because that Eric guy was in there. Don't get me wrong, I don't have an evil heart and I appreciate him being nice to me and stuff but still, I didn't exactly felt like being around him. And even worse, my history class was out in the trailers and it was freezing cold outside. I had nothing warm on except my signature black leather jacket with a hoody.

I entered the class and immediately scurried away towards my seat in the back, fishing my phone out so as to give a hint that I didn't want to be disturbed. But this was my life we're talking about here, and things don't go my way. That's just the universal rule.

"Hey," I heard a voice from ahead of me. I thanked God that this voice sounded different then Eric's. I looked to see that the guy sat directly in front of me and had turned around to face me. He had sandy blonde hair and wore glasses that hid his hazel eyes.

"You're Aria, right? Dylan's girlfriend?" He said and I blinked, taken back my his question. Dylan's girlfriend? Why the fuck would he even think that? I had barely known the guy, what was going on?

"Excuse me?" I asked, trying to figure out whether he had actually asked me that or I had imagined it.

"Aria, as in Dylan's girlfriend." He flashed his cheeky smile again. "I'm impressed. You're new here and already achieved what every other girl in this area couldn't."

"Woah, woah, wait. Hold up." I shook my head, squinting my eyes. "I'm not Dylan's girlfriend. I barely even know him. Where did you hear that from?"

"You mean you don't know?" He cocked his eyebrow. "It's all over the news. TMZ, J-14, all those sappy magazines. Along with, you know, social media and stuff."

How could I not know? I mean, I barely read those chic flicks, but still. Why would people even think that? I looked back up at the guy, who at the moment, had the nerve to check me out.

"Do you know how this false news spread?" I questioned.

"Well, for starters, every single person goes to Kenna's party. The twins were there too and a lot of people saw you and Dylan walk out holding hands. They all took pictures and posted it online. Plus, the fight with Cole and Nathan is spreading out like wildfire." He answered.

Nathan. So that was the name of that prick who tried to hurt my friend. But that wasn't the big problem here. This was so embarrassing. I should have known better than to leave a party with a celebrity. No wonder some preppy girls had thrown me a dirty look as I was coming to class. Fuck, I hated attention.

The guy in front of me had turned back towards the board as our teacher had started class. I couldn't focus on the class after hearing the news, no shit. I had sneaked on my phone to check it and indeed there were pictures from the party flooded around everywhere. I could be clearly identified in some of them. The comments were nasty as well. Some people were saying that me and him had left the party to do 'things' in private. Other consisted of jealous girls saying bad things about me. Aside from me and Dylan, pictures of Cole in the fight had gotten a lot of attention. And it wasn't the good kind. A lot of people were complaining about how it's not good for Disney to have people that could have such a bad influence.

It was a clear fact to me now that fate hated me to the extreme. Having had enough of the bullshit online, I shut my phone off and groaned, dropping my head on the desk.

* * *

Avoiding lunch was my soar goal at the moment. The news of the party had spread to every soul of the school building and I kept getting glances and stares from people which was freaking me the fuck out. I sucked all the fear up though and kept my strong resolve up. I was from NY after all, and not just that but I was Aria fucking Evans and Aria fucking Evans never shows a vulnerable weak muscle to anyone.

Instead of going to the cafeteria with my friends from English, Kiara and Sophie, I ended up roaming the hallways in my search to find a quite peaceful place where I could just sit and blast some music in my ears without any one interrupting.

But like I had said before, this is my life and things don't necessarily go my way. Like ever. I'm saying that because, right as I turn the corner, I bump into Eric.

"Aria," He seemed surprised to see me. I mentally let a string of curse words out. Why? Of all people? Although I was glad that it was neither of the Sprouse Twins. I didn't wanna be seen anywhere near them. That would just lead people on with all the news and shit.

"Eric," I let out a breathy reply. I had just realized that I was out of breath. Was I running without even knowing?

"Hey," he then gave me a slow smile. Ok, are we going to get anywhere past this?

I forced a smile. Lately, I've doing a lot of that and people seemed to buy it. Huh, maybe I should consider joining theater sometime?

"I had been looking for you the entire day," Eric says and I swallow.

"Me? Why?" I ask.

"I don't exactly remember what happened at the party since I was wasted as fuck and tend to say and do real stupid things so I just wanted to apologize in advance and to tell you that I'm not like that." He rants, nervously running a hand through his short hair.

I blinked. I was expecting him to ask about the news but this is what he asks? Even I don't fully remember our conversation beyond the scope of him asking me to dirty dance with him. I mean, sure he didn't exactly say that, but the only dancing that was going on there was sexual so you know where my conclusion is coming from.

"Aria?" His voice interferes my thoughts.

"Hm?"

"Are you ok?" He looks at my face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I wave off. "And don't worry, I know you're not that kind of a guy."

_He's known for banging girls here and there._

Dylan's words rang in my head. Should I really be thinking about this right now?

A smile immediately forms on his face. "Oh thank God, I'd been worried because I don't really remember what I said, but aside from that, I heard the news, did you?" He asks, changing the topic faster than I can catch.

"Yeah, yeah I did."

"Look," he said with a sympathetic look on his face that looked rather doubtful to me. "I don't know the truth but if you need someone to talk to, know that I'm here." He then got the nerve to grab my hand in both of his. Ok, not comfortable. I don't like people touching me. I'm off limits and I would like to keep it that way.

_He gives them the whole nice image and that they could trust him only so he can trick them into bed._

I hear Dylan in my head again and ringing bells go off in my mind. Seriously, that guy had gotten into my head in just one evening to a point where I'm questioning my brain's ability to function normally. I feel awkward as I see that Eric is not letting go off me so I make the first move and slide my hand out of his grasp, which is hesitant by the way, and place them in my pockets.

"Thanks, I appreciate it but there's no need for that." I say. Just then the bell rings and I've never been this thankful of it. Although it was disappointed that I didnt get any time alone.

"Well, I'll see you around." I chime and walk fast by him, not daring to take a look back. You know that feeling you get when it feels like someone is staring at you? Yeah, I was getting that right now.

Today had been some day and I was yet to feel the wrath of my Spanish teacher, who's last week assignment I still hadn't done.

* * *

"So, I hear you've been gaining a lot of attention lately." I hear an edgy voice behind me. I turn my head to see that my evil, vicious, obnoxious, slutty whore of a sister is standing at the door of my room with her arms across her chest, shooting daggers at me.

"Didn't ask for it, just like your company so go away." I grunt before turning back to my computer.

"Aria, Aria, Aria," Zoey sings as she walks in. I don't like her presence in my territory. My room was better off without her too-fruity scented perfume contaminating it. "How easily you manage to crawl under my skin and boil my blood. I have to wonder, is it natural or do you have to work on it?"

I sigh and shut the lid of my laptop.

"What the fuck do you want?" I dryly ask.

"Answers." She said, dropping her sing-song voice and going back to the bitter she usually has around me.

"Answers?"

"Don't play innocent and tell me, are you with Dylan Sprouse? Did you really go to Kenna's party? Did you and Dylan...?" She rambles but doesn't complete the last question. I wanted to pull the fake extensions right out of her head.

"Excuse the much needed reminder, but you're the slut here not me." I snap.

She rolled her eyes. "Tell me, is all that news true? Because as far as I'm concerned, a freak like you would never get a celebrity to swoon after you."

Yes, me the freak. Only because I wasn't obsessed with the color pink, short skirts that really didn't look any different then underwear, high heels, Starbucks, and buckets upon buckets of make up on every corner of my face. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Aria Evans, the freak of the Evans family.

"Hmm, yeah. Well too bad, this freak managed to get a celebrity to buy her a subway and take her to the beach so you shouldn't be talking." I say and get up to put my computer on charge. The look on the bitch's face was priceless as her mouth dropped open.

"Wha-" She stuttered. "You're lying. You'd wish for that to happen. Get out of the dream land."

I sigh. Ok, where was this conversation headed? I was already too mentally exhausted to deal with Zoey's shitty presence right now.

"Just get to the point and get out of my room already."

Zoey stood up from where she was sitting I my bed and strolled towards me, trying to seem as intimidating but the day I'd actually get scared of her would be the day I die.

"I just want you to fuck off and stop trying to gain attention. I was Miss Popular back in New York, and I'm going to be Miss Popular in LA. I need to be at Kenna's level but your shit is coming in my way so try to be as invisible as possible dear little sis." She says, and sashays her hips out of my room.

I stand there frozen for a while, contemplating whether I should cry my eyes out at having someone like her being related to me, or laugh my guts out at how desperate she is to be like Kenna. Keena, by the way was the Queen Bitch of LAHS. The kind of slut whom every guy drooled over since most of her skin was always on display even if it was fucking freezing outside. I had seen her once and almost gagged at the pink around her. Seriously, this girl even puts Regina George to shame. Only, she isn't as smart as Regina was portrayed. But eh, who really got time to give a shit about these fake ass bitches.

My only main priority was to get past this shit people called High School, and that means to make it out alive.

* * *

**So, not a lot of drama here since this was just a filler. I did this so that the little readers I do won't think I have abandoned the story. Either way, it took effort so please review and give suggestions if you have any. Btw, Zoey is played by Zoey Deutch and I'm still determining the others for right now. So yeah, I guess thats it. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**I got no reviews for the last chapter :(. But I guess I deserved that since I didn't put my best effort into it. But i do seriously hope that this chapter would make up the loss of the last chapter. Review please, especially if you have any advice. **

**Constructive criticism is highly appreciated!**

* * *

"I just don't get it." I rambled on as I walked back and forth in Bree's room. She sat on the bed, eyeing me blankly. "How could I be so stupid? I should have known better than to leave a party with a stranger. And him being a celebrity makes it even worse with all the false news spreading everywhere. Gosh, Bree what am I gonna do?" I sat at the foot of the bed, my shoulders slouched due to all the burden placed on them.

She looks at me with no expression on her face and doesn't say anything.

I wave a hand in front of her. "Bree!" I call. "Hello?"

She blinks a couple of times and leans back on the bed frame. "I don't know, Aria. Why are you asking me?" She shrugged. Well, this was odd. Usually she would be overly enthusiastic to hear my problems only to shoot about a million solutions that I would never use.

"Why? Because you're my friend and you'r suppose to help me with this shit." I exclaimed, standing up and resuming my pace. Let's just say that I can't sit still when I'm under stress.

She shrugged again. "I don't know. You should do whatever you want since that's all that matters to you."

I stop in my tracks and look at her. The tone of her voice wasn't as sweet as I last remember. Was she mad at me for some reason?

"What do you mean?" I asked, studying her face.

"Oh come on, Aria." She laughs, not the cheery type. "Who do you listen to besides yourself. There's no point in trying to ask you for something."

"OK, seriously, why don't you just stop beating around the bushes and tell me what's going on?" I demanded, getting frustrated with people.

She sighed and got up from her bed and walked towards the window, clearly avoiding my gaze the entire time.

"Look, Aria. I didn't want to say it, but I can't help but think about how things might have turned out to be different if only..." She stopped suddenly, as if contemplating whether she should continue saying what she had already started.

I waited before silently asking, "If only what?"

She sighed, and turned around, looking at me straight in the eyes. "Maybe things wouldn't have turned out to be the way they did if...you..hadn't suddenly left without saying." She completed, hesitantly.

For a second, I zoned out. Did she actually just say that? She can't possibly blame me? I mean, sure, that day, i did partially blame myself but now, if you look at the whole thing again, you would notice that I had no part in it whatsoever. I swallowed in the anger that was rising up inside my body.

"Wait," I raised my palm. "Are you saying that what happened was all my fault?"

"I'm just saying, if you were there instead of going out with my boyfriend's brother, maybe I wouldn't have gotten myself into such a situation." Bree said, now going back to avoiding my gaze.

Great, another ball of shitload to pile up on the mountain I already had on my shoulders.

"Excuse my tone, but you were the one responsible of getting yourself into that situation, not me. Let me freshen up your memory by reminding you that I wasn't the one who insisted on going to the party in the first place. In fact, I was all up against it. It was you who desperately wanted to 'enjoy your high school years'. Well, did you enjoy them now? And also, I wasn't the one who told you to get totally wasted the second you stepped in there, and on top of that, you didn't even give the chance to process anything before you went on to go dancing while I had to try to get rid of this clingy guy who i think is still after me. If all that isn't proof enough that it wasn't my fault, then I don't know what does." I rambled out in one breath.

Bree stood there, utterly quiet and shocked. She was taking her time to process everything. I had never been rude to her, but her false blame on me, on top of all the news and shit, had just pulled my last nerve and I could't keep in all the frustrations building up inside me anymore.

"Aria-" She opened her mouth but I raised my palm to stop her.

"Don't." I said. "I came here to ask you for help, to share my problems with you because I thought you were my friend, the kind that would understand me but you just downright slapped me across the face by blaming me."

She opened her mouth once again, but I interrupted her.

"No, really. I do't want to fucking argue again. I should leave anyways. Its late." I say, pick up my phone and head out towards her door. But before I pass the threshold, I stop and turn around to her again.

"And for the record, I'm not going out with your boyfriend's brother. He was just helping me out when you decided to ditch me to go dirty dancing." With that, I whip my head back around and walk down the stairs. I was too frustrated to even say goodbye to her mom. Thankfully though, she didn't acknowledge my presence as she had her eyes glued on the tv where she was watching some sort of a cooking show.

I reached for the doorknob and opened the front door in time to see that knuckles were inches away from hitting my head.

Outside stood, none other than the twins. Cole dropped his hand from the position of knocking and looked at me surprised.

"Hi,er..Aria, right?" He said.

I merely nodded, mainly focusing on avoiding his brother's intense gaze on me from behind him. I didn't wanna talk to Dylan right now, or to anyone for that matter.

"It's nice to meet you again." He smiles a small smile as I move aside to give them space to walk in.

"Yeah," I manage to choke out. "Same."

I wasn't looking at Dylan, but I could feel his eyes burning towards me. As if daring me to look back. Am I just over thinking all this?

Cole looked up at the stairs before turning back to me.

"How's she?" He asked.

It took me a second to realize who he was talking about, "Oh, she's fine, I guess."

"You know, I really do appreciate you trying to help her through this. She needed a girl's support since they understand each other better." Cole commented, shyly running his hand through his hair.

Hearing him say those words aggravated me even more. Yes, I helped her. Or at least tried to. But she didn't appreciate it at all but instead blamed me for all of it and even in a way had called me selfish and self-conceited who only does what she wants.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I nod at Cole's comments.

"K, then. Imma go check on her. Hope to see you again." He gave me a smile before disappearing upstairs. As soon as he was out of sight, I turned and tried to bolt out of the house and never turn back, but before I could reach for the door, a strong grip on my wrist forced me back.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked me as I continue to look anywhere but at him.

"What am I doing?" I mutter.

"You're avoiding me. That's what you're doing." He answers, his tongue dipping with a hint of annoyance. " Can I at least ask why?"

I finally give up and look at him. I almost jump back at the sharpness of his gray eyes that immediately come in contact with mine. There's something different about them right now...was it worry? Anger?

"Why shouldn't I?" I question. "Didn't you hear what they're all saying about us? That we're dating and doing other sorts of shit. Those fucking bitches at school are calling me all sorts of names and saying how I seduced or manipulated you or some shit. Not to mention how all the pictures have flooded everywhere with me clearly recognizable in them and don't even get me started on how I've gotten blamed for the whole Nathan and Bree incident. With all that shit, the last thing I want is to be seen around you to give people more to lead themselves on to thinking that we're actually together." I rant. Wow, I've been on a ranting roll today. I take a breath and see that Dylan was just standing there, studying my face.

It was getting on my nerves. "What?" I ask. He wasn't going to say anything even after all of this was technically his fault...I think. After all, he was the one who tricked me into going with him by using subway at the time I was starving. But then again, he helped me with the whole drunk Eric situation.

"I...I'm sorry, I forgot that you weren't used to this kind of attention." He says, still studying my face. "Me and Cole have been suffering through the false accusations media tends to throw at people like us from time to time so I just let this one slip by, but I forgot that you were apart of it. I'm sorry."

Something about the way he was looking at me told me that he meant what he was saying. Maybe he had forgotten that? But still, that doesn't make everything alright again. It doesn't make all the news, the pics, the comments go away. And neither does it take away the anger of me being blamed.

I suddenly felt my left eye throb in pain and realized that a migraine was probably coming soon. The pain intensifies for a second as I close my eyes and pinch the top of the bridge of my nose.

"Dylan...I.."I try to say something only to come to a wordless position. "I gotta go, I don't have time for this." I turn towards the door again and open it just in time to get my face slapped with the cold autumn wind. Fuck man.

"Hey!" I heard him call after me. "Let me drive you."

"No, it's OK. I can go myself." I mutter, as I make my way out to the porch.

"Are you kidding me? How are you gonna walk that long in this cold whether wearing only that?" He asks. "Stop being stubborn and let me drive you, besides I gotta go home too. I don't feel like hanging here anymore."

I inwardly curse myself for wearing only my denim hoodie. He was right, it was way too cold and the walk back to Woodland Hills was at least 20 minutes.

"I told you, we need to avoid being around each other before a secret media spy takes pics of us again and spreads more shit around." I sigh as I struggle to keep my hair away from my face due to the strong wind.

"We're going in a car." He narrows his eyes at me. "No one is here and no one will notice."

"Yeah, but - " I start.

"Oh shut up." He interrupts, grabs my arm, and pulls me towards his car before I can get a word in.

* * *

**So, that's all for this chapter. I tried to keep Aria's annoyance and anger at the things happening to her the main focus through out this chapter because I really wanna stress the fact that she is having a hard time trying to adjust to her new environment with all the new people. With that through, I hope this chapter wasn't a bore like the last one and honestly, this was the best I could do when a mountain of shitload from school already had me buried. **

**So...yeah. Review. Its almost valentines day, so spread the love, and Review ppl. **


	7. Chapter 7

**You fanfictioners are some cruel, cruel, evil vicious people who can't bother to review even a word that would uplift my spirits about this story. Honestly, the only reason why I even update is that I know some people are reading it.**

* * *

"This is the absolute last time I'm ever going to be around you, do you get that?" I exclaimed as I looked at him with my arms crossed.

"Nope." He shakes his head carelessly and pops the 'p'.

"Ugh Dylan! Why can't you just stop showing up everywhere and just leave me alone?" I asked, annoyed by everything right now. We were currently in his car, waiting for the light to turn green so we can go. Honestly, the ride was only supposed to be ten minutes but God knows why it seemed like hours right now.

"I can't just leave you alone. I have to make up for all this fake gossip and shit." He says.

I squint my eyes at him, "You can't fix this. Actually, nothing can besides time and patience and even they wont work if you don't choose to step out of my life." I say, clearly putting emphasis on the last part of the sentence.

"Hm, you keep believing that but I'm not backing away this easily. No one has become this much of a drama in my life as fast as you and that too in such a short amount of time." He finally takes the turn over towards our street and I inwardly thank God. I can't wait to get out of this car, to get away from this human creature as far as possible.

"Drama?" I exaggerate the word and raise my eyebrow. "How am I drama?"

"Well, lets see. We met in detention, then we meet at a party where I save your ass from a drunk rapist, then there's the whole shit thing with Bree getting-"

"Don't mention that." I wince inside. "I don't wanna talk about it."

My tone must have sounded darker than intended because Dylan then turns to look at me and for once, becomes serious.

"Why? Everything OK?" He asks. The sincerity in his tone is proof enough that he wasn't playing around anymore.

"Yeah, everything's OK. Just drop me off and never speak to me again." I mutter and face the window. The car slowly pulls up in front of my house, the one right next to his, and I step out, almost slamming the door. I walk around the car towards my house when I hear him yet again.

"What? No 'Thank You'?!"

"No, go die." I muttered picking on the door lock with my keys.

Dylan chuckled and I heard the car pulling away from our drive way.

"You are something, Aria Evans. You're something."

With that, the car had disappeared behind the bushes that separated the two houses. The door opened and instead of stepping in to the coziness of my house, I just stood there, looking out.

My emotions and frustrations were all on a high right now and I couldn't think anything straight. Fuck my life to high shit.

* * *

Later that night, I was perched up on my bed, stomach down, using my laptop when I heard my door click. I turned to see that mom had just walked in and from the looks of it, she didn't look happy. My eyes dropped down to her hands and I saw that she was holding a magazine. Great. I can already tell what was coming in for me.

"Do you have an explanation?" She asked with anger glistening in her eyes.

"Yes, but can we please not have this conversation right now?" I whine.

"No, absolutely not. I want answers, and I want them right now, Aria." She demanded, throwing the magazine on the bed right in front of me.

The frustration from earlier came flooding back and I was sure that I was about to explode this time like an atomic bomb. Seriously though, can fate have mercy on me for once?

"Yeah well I want answers too, Mom. But I can't get them, I never do so I guess we're both on the same terms here." I find myself saying, surprising both my mother and I.

"What does that mean? And don't you ever dare to talk to me like that ever again, do you hear me?" She snaps at me with a pointing finger.

"I want answers to why all the bad things happen to me! Why did I have to come here with you all when I could have stayed with Grandma back in New York when she was accepting me? Why can't I adjust here like you and Zoey did? Why can't I be my usual happy self again? Why am I being blamed for the things I didn't do? And why is my own mother believing those false blames? Not to mention why dad isn't here when I need him." I rant, but start to loose my voice by the end of it.

No, Aria, no. You're not going to cry. You're NOT going to cry. Just no.

All that left my mom speechless. Her lack of words told me that she was conflicted between yelling at me and taking pity on me and I wanted neither at the moment. So instead of giving her the time to form any words, I get up and guide her out of my room by her shoulders.

"A-Aria-"

"I told you, Mom. Not right now. Ask me all the questions you want and I promise to answer them all honestly on any other day, just not now. Please." I say and close the door without giving her another chance.

I huff out a breath as I lean on the door. This is it. I can't handle anymore shit for the day, so before anything else gets the chance to throw itself at me, I shove my computer, along with the magazine away, and huddle in the coziness of my bed on an attempt to fall asleep.

And that attempt failed miserably.

"Damn, I didn't know you had it that bad." His voiced echoed in my room and I sat up, screaming.

He had just scared the shit out of me but was himself, leaning carelessly on the window sill, biting into an apple. He had probably climbed the open window. I should know better than to leave it open. Damn it, Aria!

"What the fuck are you doing here at this time?" I hissed at him, venom clearly dripping from my tongue.

He surrendered with a fake expression of sadness across his face. "Calm down, babe. It's not like I killed someone. "

"No," I snapped again. "But I will be." I hoped that he had gotten the message because the look in my eyes made it pretty obvious.

"Oh, is it Bree?" He just casually asked, taking me by surprise. "For blaming you for all that shitfull?"

I blinked, taken aback. Did she tell him? Oh God, was she spreading the false news about me everywhere? Wait, no. That can't be. She's not even that worse of a person.

"Hello?" His voice interrupted again.

"How did you know that-" I proceed to ask but he interrupts again.

"I knew that there was something with you today at Bree's. So I asked her afterwards." He said, biting his half-eaten apple again.

"And she told you everything?" I asked, studying him.

"Yep. And then I came back and saw you exploding on your mom so I thought that Lil' Ar Ar needed to talk to someone her age ad someone completely charming." he grinned, eating his apple.

Out of all the information that was in that sentence, I could only pay attention to one. Did he just call me Lil Ar Ar? The fuck.

"What the fuck did you just call me?" I questioned.

All he did after that was burst out laughing. Clutching his stomach, he struggled to talk.

"I knew you were gonna ask that above anything else!" He laughed and then wiped a non-existent tear from his eyes. "Oh God, i'm really starting to learn you."

"Why the fuck would you call me that?!" I shouted at him.

He just simply shrugged. "It just came out of my mind and since you loved it so much, its gonna be your nickname from now on."

"Wha- But-"

"Shush," he pointed his finger. "I'm here to talk some serious business."

His tone changed so quickly that it was surreal. I'd figured he was probably pulling off an act. These fucking Hollywood celebrities!

"So," he started pacing back and forth in my room. "I've been thinking about this whole situation a lot and came to the conclusion that we need to take action instead of sitting around, waiting for something to happen by itself."

I was tired at this point. Really tired, both physically and mentally so I just leaned on the bed frame and rolled my eyes at him. Let's just let him talk. He wasn't going to back away so why bother?

"And after much thought," he tapped his temple to emphasize his point, earning another roll from my eyes at his acting. "I think the best way to shut up those people is to pretend that we are actually dating."

Ok, if I was drinking something right now, I would definitely spit it right in his face. The nickname he had given me was stupid, yes, but this, this was just taking it really far.

"What?!" I screamed.

"Shh!" He signaled. "You don't wanna wake up your mom!"

"Dating?!" I spat. I couldn't believe it. Seriously, what did they put in the food of these celebrities? Or was it just him?

"Isn't that just gonna make the whole situation much more worse than it already is?!" I asked.

"Now, think over this with a cool mind, Ar Ar." He said and I inwardly winced at the mention of the nickname. "Right now, people are insulting us, especially you saying that you're all those kinds of nasty things, BUT, once we act like we're really dating in front of them, they won't have any ground to stand up on and it will shut their mouths up."

But, dating? Even if it was fake, just acting like a couple would be super awkward. Plus, it would just bring up more questions although I did agree that they would stop calling me a slut, or a whore, or 'that horny bitch'. Yes, yes they (mostly girls) were calling me all those things along with much more nasty minute online. There was a new comment every second and as much as I tried to avoid letting it get to me, it still stung knowing that that's what people were thinking of me. I mean, I'm a nice fucking person. I don't deserve this.

"Earth to Ar Ar?" Dylan waved his hand in front of my eyes, making me shake out of my thoughts. I was perplexed and looked at him confused. I didn't know what to do. I've never been in such a dramatic position before, so how do I handle this?

"Look," He started once again. But this time, his voice had lost the humorous tone and was a whole lot more soft. "I don't like seeing you suffer through this alone. Sure me and Cole were in the news too but, out of us all, you had to take the biggest blow of it. And I don't like that, especially with all that shit those bitches are calling you that you're not. I want to do something, anything to fix this. And all I can come up with that might work is this and I need you in this."

I stared at him blinking.

Wow, this guy was genuinely trying to help me. Which was oddly weird, I mean, he was a celebrity, he was living the high life and can easily choose to walk over this situation without a second look back. His fans would still love him no matter what, just that all the fingers would be pointing at me. But instead of choosing that path, he had had actually looked back and was choosing to help me. I could just tell by the sincerity of his eyes.

But I was still unsure about the whole fake dating idea.

"Dylan, that's-that's very sweet of you to help me but I'm not sure about the whole fake dating idea." I truthfully answer, changing my tone to be a little more soft as a token of my appreciation.

"I know! I know it's super weird but it always works in the movies!" He rattled. "Seriously though, I really wanna give it a try. So what do you say?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know!" I say and fall back on my bed.

"Wait, actually, I don't care whether you say yes or not, we're giving it a try starting tomorrow." His tone had lost the softness in them and I knew that his usual stubborn self was back.

Falling on the bed had suddenly had me turn very drowsy and I couldn't believe how fast drowsiness had started to kick in. Wake up, Aria! There's a celebrity in your room! You can't fall asleep right now! But scolding myself didn't help.

"Yo! You heard me right?" Someone's voice came and repeatedly echoed in my head making it hurt. I just wanna sleep man.

"Yeah..." I yawned and rolled over. "Whatever."

"Dude, you're such a loser." Came the voice again before I completely zoned out.

* * *

Honestly, i dont even know where this is going. BUt can ya'll please REVIEW? Like PLEASE? JUST ONE WORD?


	8. Chapter 8

**Happy Windy Cold Night! Well, at least it is here in VA lol. But anyways, since I'm off from school, I decided to update again. And I also got an email from a reader asking for me to put romance in my story and if you're reading this, than honestly, I'm thanking you from the bottom of my heart for reviewing (even though its not showing in the thing) and about your question regarding romance, don't worry, I'm a romance writer so this story will definitely have loads of romance in it. I don't survive without it so yeah. I agree that the beginning is going really slow and I do sincerely apologize for that, but I was just attempting on exposing the character that is Aria Evans. **

**Thanks and I really hope that you're all enjoying my story. If there is anything, please message me an advice or any other suggestion you may have. **

* * *

I nearly cried, nearly, when I heard my alarm clock go off the next morning. I had stayed in bed, turning and groaning up until I got so late that I had to run to my bus stop. But if you haven't learned yet, fate up there hates my living guts and does anything to make me hate my life. I approached my stop just in time to see the bus turn the street ahead and leave without me.

Cursing, I dropped my book bag from my shoulder and it fell on the sidewalk with a thud. What the fuck am I going to do now? Mom was at work and Zoey no wonder had taken her car since she was a senior. Let's just say that we sisters would rather walk to school than ride in the same car which was exactly why Zoey always left earlier than me.

I was just about to go back home when I heard a honk of a car sound behind me. I turn around to meet him smiling at me through the window.

"What do you want?" I groaned. "It's too early, ok? Go away."

"Oh babe, but I can't. Who else will give you a ride?" His morning voice was unavoidably raspy and sexy. OK, seriously, why the fuck did I just say that?

"Ride?" I arched my eyebrow. "From you? To school? With all those people there to stare? I think I'll pass."

"But how else is the plan gonna start? Plus, you missed the bus and since I'm going to the same place, I can drop you off." He shrugged.

I squinted, "What plan?"

One of his eyebrow went up and a playful almost evil looking smirk formed on his face. "Oh, you'll find out. But first, let's work on going already because school starts in twenty minutes."

I shifted on my feet, thinking. Should I go with him? I already missed the bus and mom would be pissed if she found out I skipped plus, it was just a simple ride.

"Fifty centuries later and we're still in the same spot." Dylan sighed and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine," I grunted, trying to look displeased. "Better keep your mouth shut the whole ride."

A victorious smirk replaced his earlier one as I got into the car and we were soon off.

The perks of being a celebrity definitely guaranteed you the best parking spot in the entire school. As the car came to a stop, I could spot a lot of people staring at us through the window. They always did but today, seeing me in the car with him had earned some extra jaw drops and dirty eyes.

"Are we gonna get out or what?" Dylan asked from beside me.

"I knew this was a bad idea. Now they're all gonna stare at us." I whined as my eyes darted around the crowd.

"That's the point, dumbass. Now hurry up, I have business to attend before class starts." Dylan grabbed his bag and stepped out. Gulping, I grabbed mine and stepped out as well.

It was awkward and really uncomfortable having all those girls stare at me the way they were. I mean, yeah I had gotten stares ever since the false news spread but this was different. This time, they seriously were trying to kill me with their looks.

I slung my bag over my shoulders and was about to walk when I felt someone slip their hand into mine and intertwined their fingers with mine. I looked to see it was Dylan. What the fuck was he doing? Before I could say anything or pull away, he winked and pulled me towards the building with him.

His grip tightened so I knew that even if i tried, I won't be able to escape so I gave up and let him walk me to the building. But I swear, the moment he lets go, even a pmsing Hulk wouldn't compare to the things I will do to his pretty little face.

As we came across the big doors where the girls were piled into their groups, shooting daggers at me, Dylan surprised me yet again by wrapping his arm around my neck and pulling me toward him so his face snuggled in my hair and neck.

"Last night was amazing, Aria." He then said loud enough for the girls to hear. Gasps erupted through out them and honestly, I was starting to feel cannibalistic towards the guy as I fought to keep my cheeks from turning into tomatoes.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" I hissed at him so only he could hear and tried to pry his arm off but he tightened it more, making it nearly impossible.

"Just go with it." He whispered back. I sighed and tried to keep my anger from erupting like a lava as we entered the school building.

"Ok, the girls are gone, you can let go now." I whisper-yelled at him.

"Patience, My Lil' Ar Ar. We still have a whole hallway to go." He smiled, withdrawing now only to wrap his arm around my waist.

"Enough with that fucking nickname!" I yelled at him. "And was this your brilliant plan? Really?"

"Would you stop making it look like that we just came from fighting?" He clenched his jaw and whispered looking around. "It takes away the whole romantic looking vibe away."

"Or what? You're playing me around like a toy, Dylan! I won't-"

"Shut up before I make you by kissing." He warned.

I froze and shut up. Holding hands was one thing, kissing was another. I didn't say anything the rest of the way to my locker as gasps and all kind of stares aimed their way at us. One girl even crippled up the paper she was holding and crunched it under her feet in her anger. Oh, what had I walked myself into?

When my locker came in sight, Dylan loosened his grip and I pried myself away from him, storming to open my locker. Instead of leaving, he walked over and leaned his shoulder on the locker that was right next to mine. I glared at his smirking face as I shoved my books in my bag.

"Now what do you want?" I snarl at him.

"For you to hurry up, I have to get to class too you know." He shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Then leave. What are you waiting here for?" I slammed my locker.

"I have to drop you off, duh." He exclaimed. "You really did wake up on the wrong side of bed today, didn't you? First you forget the plan, than you-"

"Wait! You're not dropping me off, OK? We already have too much attention and I don't like it." I hiss at him and storm off to the opposite side. Only, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I groaned. This guy seriously was the most stubborn person I ever met.

"You're going in the wrong direction, sweetheart. Your English class is that way." He pointed his thumb over towards the other hallway. And that's when I remember that he was right. But how the heck does he know?

"How do you know?" I questioned.

"I took your schedule from your desk last night." He answered, holding up a piece of paper.

"Wha-you were in my room?!" I reached over to get my schedule but he held it back and looked at me as if I was a creature from a different planet.

"Gosh, did you lose your memory over night or something?" He asked and just then, the two-minute warning bell rang. People around us, who were staring at us, started to leave and rush to class.

Dylan grabbed my arm again and pulled me towards the hallway.

We approached my English class only to see that the kids were piled out, waiting for the teacher to open the door. Great. More people to ogle at our entwined hands.

"K, babe. I'll see you at lunch then." Dylan said, and just to get on my last nerve, he reached over and kissed my cheek before leaving. That fuckhead! He actually kissed me on the cheek! Argh!

* * *

**Okkkkk so, I don't feel too positive about this chapter but what do you guys think? Review to let me go or PM me! Thnks!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm not even gonna bother asking for reviews, here, lets just get on with this chapter.**

* * *

Every set of eyes._ Every single one of them_ looked over at our direction from time to time. Dylan and I were currently sitting in one of the booths by the big, large windows that out looked the turf. The booths were the best lunch seats in the entire cafeteria. I was just sitting, messing around with my fruit salad while Mr. Celebrity was busy typing away on his phone.

I tried to keep myself calm but failed as I looked around at all the people secretly eyeing us and looking away whenever I would catch them.

"Dylan?" I called to him, but all he did was raise his eyebrow and reply with a "Hm?"

"Look at me!" No reply.

"Dylan!" I smacked my hand on the table and he finally looked up.

"What? Can't you see I'm busy?" He asked, slightly annoyed.

"I don't give a fuck. I don't like all of this attention." I exclaimed, looking around the cafeteria once again.

"Stop worrying," He turned to his phone again. "They'll stop once we start to become old news."

I looked at him, "And how long is that gonna take?"

"Probably a few months." He shrugged carelessly.

"A few months?!" I nearly yelled. "I can't stand being your fake girlfriend for a few fucking months OK? I'm cancelling in on the plan."

Looking around, he hissed at me, "You're doing it again. Making it seem like we're fighting."

"I don't care." I picked up my bag. "I'm out of this!" I stood up and walked away only to have him grab my arm and pull me with such strength that I ended up falling down on his lap.

"Now, this is way better." He grinned an evil grin and tightened his grip around my waist as I started to struggle to get out.

"Sprouse, let go of me." I gritted my teeth threateningly.

"But I can't." He replied. "This is getting a whole lot more attention than before. Maybe I should feed you t-"

"No, absolutely not. I'm not into that low grade cheesy romance crap. Now, let me go!" I reach my hand down to where his was clutching my waist and tried to free it. I, thanks to fate up there, failed yet again as all he did was grab my hand and grip it tightly within his.

I just decided to give up. Fuck it. The guy wasn't going to change his mind.

"I hate you." I narrow my eyes at him only to have him return me one of those million dollar smiles of his.

"You'll thank me later, babe." He winked.

Shaking my head, I turn away from him and see that he was right. People's eyes were roaming over to our direction more than they were before and I even think that there were some who were secretly trying to get a picture. I then froze as my eyes stopped at one particular table. Bree was sitting with one of her friends and Cole and was intently looking over at my direction. Our eyes locked and for a second, I thought she was about to get up and walk over but nothing like that happened as we both looked away at the same time.

What would she think? That I ran after her brother's boyfriend right after we had a fight? Was she ever gonna apologize for the false accusations she had thrown at me?

"I promise, everything will be ok." I feel a tingle run down my spine as I feel his breath close to my ears, fanning the side of my neck. And for a second, I let myself believe him. Its amazing how fast this guy can make me change my moods and opinions. I knew he didn't have bad intentions, but that didn't make what he was doing right either.

* * *

I was walking down the hallway to my Creative Writing class when I heard someone call my name behind me. I turned around and almost groaned out loud as I saw Eric's figure running up to me.

"Hey," He managed to say huffing and puffing between his breaths.

"Hey," I forced myself to smile at him.

"I just came here to gave you this." He said and handed me a red card. I opened it to see that it was a birthday party invitation. His birthday party.

"Its my birthday bash at my beach house this Saturday and I am really, really hoping that you can make it there." He smiled a cheeky smile at me as I look up at him.

"Um, yeah, sure! I'll try my best to show up." I answered, surprising myself. What the fuck was I doing?

"Great!" His smile grew even wider. "I'll see you there."

I forced myself to smile yet again. "Yeah, sure."

He turned around and left as I face palmed. Why didn't I just come up with a stupid excuse? Gosh, I'm such an idiot. The guy creeps me out. Its just his niceness...I can't really be mean to him because of it so what was I to do?

"Oh you got invited too?" I heard yet another voice and this time, I am seriously taken back as I look up to see Bree standing there.

"Um, yeah. I did." I was trying to form words in a midst of my shock. "Did you?"

"Yeah." She answered, looking down to the red card in her hand. "I'm going with Cole, are you going with Dylan?"

I blinked, oh yeah the plan. She thought that me and him were dating, right. But I didn't know if Dylan was even going.

"Uh, yeah. I am." I just answered. Oh fuck it. I can escape and crawl into an empty pit later and stay there forever.

"OK, than I guess I'll see you guys there." She gave me a soft smile although her eyes had a strange, dull look into them. Maybe she was feeling guilty for what she did?

"Yeah."

"Bye."

"Bye."

With that she left and I just stood there. So now I was supposed to attend a party that was thrown by a guy that crept the living fuck out of me with a guy who was playing as my fake boyfriend while my friend, whom I had an argument with, was gonna be there too?

Life up there, you really do hate me, don't you?

* * *

"Get up or else I'll have to pick you up and take you there that way!" He warned me as I stayed with my face muffled inside my pillow. Why did my mom even let him in?

Dylan found out that I was invited to the party and had thought that it would be a great idea to go as a couple. Also, that we should go shopping for a sexy dress for me to wear so I could make all those other girls there jealous.

"I told you! I don't wanna go! I hate shopping! That's why I do it online!" I said, my voice muffled by the pillow I heard the noise of footsteps and suddenly, I turned cold as he lifted off the duvet from me mercilessly.

"I swear, Aria. I'm only seconds away from tossing you over my shoulder." He said through gritted teeth. I peeked out to see his facial expression and saw that he was serious indeed. I sat up and looked at him.

"Fine, but I'm about to make this the worst shopping trip that you'll ever go to. " I warned him as I stood up to get ready.

I shot glares at him as I walked over and threw on my dark blue denim jacket. In a matter of seconds, we were in his car as he drove over to one of the richest most expensive shopping boutiques I had ever been to.

"OK, I don't like to wear rich stuff just to let you know. My mom has been trying to get me in one of those skimpy dresses and has failed to this day." I complained as he parked and fixed his hoodie and sunglasses which he was wearing to disguise himself out in public.

"Well than, too bad. I'm not your mom. C'mon let's go. I have to go to the studio for shooting in about two hours." He said, stepping out.

"Two hours?!" I exclaimed. That was too much time being wasted on fucking dress shopping.

He grinned. "I know, I know. You wanna spend more time with your charming boyfriend but sorry babe, man's got a job to go to. Now hurry!" He slammed the door as I fumed with anger inside the car before stepping out myself.

...

"No." I said, looking at myself in the mirror.

"Yes." He said from the couch he was sitting on, looking at me.

"I'm not wearing this to the party or to anywhere for that fact." I replied sternly. I was not gonna let him win this one. I absolutely could not wear this. And by this, I meant the black, sparkling dress that I was currently wearing. It had delicate gold work around the chest and shoulder areas and fitted perfectly with my body and it was quite beautiful, but the thing that ticked me off was its extremely short length.

"No, you're wearing this to the party and that's final." He said from behind me and I could clearly see from the mirror that he was totally checking me out. Chills ran down my spine as I caught his eyes raking over my body and my cheeks suddenly started to burn. Gosh, I knew this was gonna be a bad idea.

Before I could say anything else, the lady that supervised the store and helped around with dress selections came in, her heels echoing in the huge and luxurious dressing room portion of the huge, luxurious boutique. Her face immediately beamed up as she saw me.

"Wow, that dress looks amazing on you!" She said, looking me over. "You know, we've had that dress for a while now since no one really had the right curves to go with it but its looks like a masterpiece on you!"

I didn't know how to reply to that. Did she not notice the short length or was it just me?

"Told you..." I heard Dylan say with a smirk plastered across his face and I resisted the urge to shoot daggers at him.

"So, shall we check this out?" The lady asked looking between me and Dylan. I opened my mouth to say no but Dylan was faster than me.

"Definitely."

This time, I did shoot killing, torturous, burning daggers at him only to have him blow me a kiss.

Shaking my head, I went back to the changing area to take the dress out. Thinking over everything, I nearly cracked up at the guy. He didn't complain the whole time I was whining as he chose millions of dresses while I refused to wear any of them up until he had found this black one and didn't even let me get a word in before literally pushing me behind the changing curtain. He had patience and toleration, I would have to give him that, no matter how stubborn or annoying he may get.

When fully changed, I stepped out and handed the dress to the lady as she elegantly packed it up in the fancy box with the boutique's name and logo written on it in cursive.

"OK, that will be $599.99." She said and I had to struggle from choking. $599.99 for that?

I stepped up to pay but Dylan pulled me back and payed for me. It was a gentlemanly move.

He took the bag from the lady and we thanked her and exited into the chilly afternoon.

"You know I'm not gonna thank you for forcing me to get a dress I still don't want to wear." I told him as we got in his car.

"Good, don't. I hate thank yous anyways. They make everything so awkward in these type of situations." He replied, turning the ignition on.

"What type of situation?"

"The ones like these where the guy genuinely buys something for his girl. Saying thank you and all would be so stupid." He shook his head, going into reverse.

"You're not my guy and I'm not your girl, if you needed a reminder." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Whatever and-" He froze mid-sentence as his eyes stopped at the digital clock implanted inside the car on top of the stereo system. "Fuck! I'm going to be late for the shooting! Irene's gonna kill me!" (AN/ Irene Dreayer was the Executive Producer of the show (:)

"What are you gonna do now?" I asked.

"I'm sorry but I don't have the time to take you back home. You're gonna have to go to the studio with me." He said. I nearly choked out to nothing. No, no, no, no, that cannot happen. Never.

"What?! No, I can't! There will be so many stars over there!" I complained.

"So? They're all good people. You can stay holed up inside my dressing room if you want to but please, I have to get to work right now." He rambled, while trying to keep his focus on the road.

"Besides," Dylan proceeded. "It's your fault that you took this long. Pay the price now, Sweetheart."

"This is all my fault?" I questioned him.

"Yep, now shut up and let me focus on the road." He said.

"But-"

"Sh!"

"I can-"

"Shut it."

"Arghh!" I exclaimed and whipped my head towards the window. Now I would have to meet the Suite Life stars? I mean, it wasn't a bad thing or anything, but it was just that I was not mentally prepared for that.

Oh God, Help me.

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**So that's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and please review to let me know what you thought! Thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10! Didn't know that I would make it this far since I always abandon my stories, but here I am!**

**I also think it would be a good idea to put the cast down, so here it goes:**

**Dylan Sprouse as Himself**

**Cole Sprouse as Himself**

**Aria Evans (still determining, you can pick your own fav actress if you want to)**

**Zoey Deutch as Herself (I'm going to add Evans to her last name since she's portrayed as Aria's sister)**

**Bree Morgan as Herself (She's on ig, she's Cole's actual gf lol)**

**Brenda Song as Herself**

**Debby Ryan as Herself**

**Elizabeth Reaser as Gianna Evans (Aria's mom)**

**Matt Timmons as Himself**

**Michael Trevino as Eric Daniels**

**More probably will be coming as the story goes on. :)**

* * *

It was big, no, it was humongous. The building of Hollywood Center Studios was the color of peach and took up a good amount of space. There were white trailers scattered outside and I saw a dozen of men walking around with cameras. Oh God, how am I going to handle going in there? I'm already a nervous wreck, I can't do this.

"Relax," Dylan assured me from his side. "If you're really that scared, I won't make you meet anyone."

"I'm not scared," I informed him. "I'm just not mentally prepared to meet Hollywood Celebrities."

"Wasn't it you who told me that there's no point in behaving differently around celebrity because they're still normal people like everyone in reality?" He questioned as I turned to him.

"When did I say that?" I asked, trying to remember.

"That day in detention when we first met after I asked why you weren't surprised to see me." He answered and that's when I remembered the conversation.

"Oh.." I was thinking of it. "Yeah, I did. But its easier said than done. And besides, it was you I was talking about, not all the celebrities of the world."

"Yeah?" He smirked. "What about me?"

"Nothing." I replied, turning my face back to the window in case my cheeks were thinking of turning red. "Just that..I guess you're more normal to be around for a celebrity."

"Well, in all honesty, that's only in your case because you're different. Don't get me started on all the other girls I come across at school." He sighed, shaking his head as we looked for an available spot to park. OK, that felt nice to hear. I always wanted people to think of me as someone unique, who stood out from all the others. In a good way, of course.

"Yeah?" I smiled at him.

"Yeah." He nodded as we came to a stop and realization struck me again as I remembered that I was about to meet the Disney stars. Out of all, I really wanted to meet Brenda Song, she seemed cool and laid back but still, that didn't help me calm my nerves down.

"I only have about ten minutes to check in, are you gonna come out?"He asked, halfway outside the car already. I hesitantly nodded and stepped out as well.

After passing the security, we entered the building into a big hallway that had doors on the either side of it. There was an extending red carpet that reached all the way at the end.

"This is the storage part of the building. All the cameras and props and other things are stored in the rooms. Up ahead on the left is the hallway that leads to the dressing rooms." Dylan informed me as we came across the turn and took left, heading towards the dressing rooms section.

This hallway was the same like the previous one, only that it had a sitting area with comfortable blue couches and a big plasma screen TV right in the middle of it. We walked by the couch where my eyes caught sight of the bulletin board that was on the wall behind the big couch. I stopped to take a look and saw that thousands of photographs of cast and crew were pinned on it. Some were overlapping others due to the short space, despite the fact that the bulletin board was pretty big in size. I spotted a lot of Dylan and Cole making funny faces towards the camera. Brenda Song, Debby Ryan, Matt Timmons, even the guy who played Marcus was there as well. The oldest pictures were there too, the ones from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

I was amazed. The pictures didn't make it seem like that they were just coworkers, they made them look like they were a family, a big, one, happy family.

"Hey, I'm heading to the stage, do you wanna come?" Dylan's voice interrupted, earning my attention. I turned to him, confused as I looked at him up and down.

"When did you change?" I asked. He was wearing the green smoothie bar uniform now, fixing his hair, which looked oddly shiny and smooth under the light, in the small mirror on the wall.

"I changed while you were ogling at the board. Feeding your eyes with my pics, huh?" He looked at me through the mirror, wiggling his eyebrows.

I unknowingly burst out laughing at the way he wiggled them. "Oh you so wished! But no, I was just looking. Its nice to see the whole group so close to each other."

"Yeah, well they're more of my family." He said turning around to walk up to where I was standing as we both looked at the board. "That was when I had to dress up like a rock star, about three episodes back." He said pointing to the picture of him with a white wig and the Rock star outfit.

I burst out laughing for the second time.

He turned his head to look at me with his eyebrow up. "Whats so funny? I look amazing."

"Your...shoes.." I said between laughs. "They look so gay."

He looked back at the picture with a frown. "Shut up, they look perfect with the jacket and hair."

"Oh yeah, let's not forget about the golden jacket, did you borrow it from London?" I said, before laughing again. This time, his lips did twitch up as he struggled to not laugh himself.

I was still laughing when he surprised me by encircling his arm around my neck and pulling my head to his chest, starting to rub his knuckles on top of my head. Immediately, the pain surged at the spot.

"NO! Stop!" I screamed, although I was still laughing.

"Not until you say I looked hot!" He said, rubbing his knuckles faster, laughing himself now. My hair was starting to mess up and it really was hurting as I squealed and somehow, we both ended up on our knees as I struggled to get out of his grasp.

"Never!" I was firm on not giving up but he just kept giving me a nuggie.

"That was not London's jacket! Now, say it that I looked hot!" He said, laughing and yelling over my screams.

"Nooooo!" I yelled back and reached for the cushion on the couch and hit it over my arms at his head. He finally let go and backed up with a horrific expression on his face.

"My HAIR!" He yelled, touching his now messed-up hair and shooting an angry glare at me, although I could look past it at the danger he was about to befall.

Uh-oh.

In a matter of a second, he reached over and got the cushion form the other couch and that's when our unplanned, rather fast paced pillow fight started. We hit each other mercilessly, messing both our hair up. I grabbed another cushion when he threw a shot right to the side of my head and I launched both of my cushions towards his face.

"I hope your make up didn't come off!" I gasped humorously.

"I wasn't wearing make up, but you're definitely getting a hair job toda-" He was saying, when suddenly, he tripped over the leg of the small coffee table and the next thing I knew was that he was taking me down with him as we both fell on the big couch, him on top of me.

The impact had made him drop his head right in the crook of my neck, but he quickly pulled it back, looking down at me. Oh God, we were way too close now, as he balanced himself on his elbows. Our eyes locked and I could just feel my heart doing a hip hop routine inside my chest.

"I looked hot, and you know it." He gritted his teeth, immediately hiding the look in his eyes. He was ignoring the awkwardness, Aria, play cool, shrug it off.

So, instead of letting my cheeks burn, I gave him a smile, "Sure, if it helps you sleep at night." I patted the top of his forehead.

He pointed his index at me, "Look, Ari-"

Before he could finish, a loud clearing of a throat grabbed our attention. We both looked up at the same time to see that there was a lady standing there with her arms crossed across her chest. She had spiky blonde hair and wore glasses, from which, she was looking over at us. Dylan immediately got off of me and I get up from the couch as well.

"Dylan." She looked over at him. "You are five minutes late to the shooting."

Dylan's eyes widened at his realization. I had forgotten about his shooting as well.

"Oh shit!" He exclaimed. "I totally forgot! I'm so sorr-"

The lady held up her palm to him. "Explain it later, but first, introduce me to this young lady." Her eyes roamed over at me.

"Oh, Irene, this is Aria. Aria, this is Irene, the executive producer of the show, and also my 'mom on set'." He rolled his eyes at the last part.

"Its really nice to meet you, Aria!" She smiled widely, extending her hand.

I reached over and shook it, returning the smile. "Same here, it's an honor."

"So, are you two..?" She looked between me and Dylan, waiting. We both looked at each other before Dylan answered.

"We're friends." He said. I inwardly thanked God, I was not going to fake being his girlfriend here as well.

"Oh, well that's nice. Are you going to be showing her around?" She asked.

"Um, no actually." I answered this time. "I'm just going to stay here and wait till he's done."

"Alright," She smiled, but it disappeared as she turned back to Dylan. "You are still late, Mister. Now hurry, Brenda and Doc are waiting."

"Ok, ok." Dylan muttered and turned to me. "Are you sure you'll be fine here?"

"Yeah, don't worry. Just don't take long."

He opened his mouth, but Irene interrupted him.

"He won't if he shows up already. Let's go!" She grabbed his ear and pulled him with her. I chuckled at the sight. Once they were out, I looked around and decided to fix up all the cushions. I then, dropped down on the couch and pulled out my phone and earplugs. I was just plugging them in when I heard a very familiar voice come from nearby. I looked around and heard it once more.

"You don't understand, I need to get this part!" It said. It being the voice of a girl.

Curiosity takes over me as I get up and walk towards the door at the far right, the one where it was coming from. I l peeked my head in and that's when my eyes widened at the sight.

What the hell?

* * *

**Ok, so thats it for this chapter. I realllllyyyy hope that you enjoyed it! I am actually very tired right now and still have a ton of homework to do, but at the same time, I wanted to update. I tried my best and hope that you weren't disappointed. **

**SHOUTOUT TO THOSE WHO FOLLOWED AND REVIEWED! I LUBBB YOU ALL!**

**And the rest of ya'll, its almost Valentine's, beautify your hearts and review. **


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm so happy because of all those lovely readers that reviewed/followed/favorite my story! You guys truly do not know how happy all that makes me, so thanks! You guys are amazing! **

**Anyways, I hope that the last chapter wasn't a disappointment since I wrote it when I was feeling drowsy and I hope that none of you are confused. If you are, then just simply PM me. :)**

**Aside from that, I really don't have anything else to say, so lets start with Chapter 11.**

**BY THE WAY, I created an outfit for Aria on Polyvore, and you can check my profile. Type that WITHOUT SPACES**

**lovesick 28. polyvore. com**

**Fanfiction won't let me write the link so just type the above WITHOUT SPACES! **

**Bear with me, its a struggle**

* * *

What the serious hell?

I was beyond shocked to find my sister here, fixing her hair and make up in front of the big mirror that was bordered with bright, big light bulbs. She was sitting on the chair, applying her lip gloss as Kenna, her main side chic from school, was working on curling her hair. What could Zoey be possibly doing here? That too, fixing her self as if she was getting ready to shoot?

I regained my composure and knocked on the door. Their heads turned over to mine and displayed the same shocked expression I had earlier upon seeing them.

"Aria?" Zoey was the first to speak, her mouth almost dropping. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I would like to know the same thing regarding you and your minion." I said, shoving my heads in my pockets.

"I'm not her minion!" Kenna grunted and stomped her foot. Zoey rolled her eyes at that but then, turned back to me.

"Seriously, Aria. What are you doing here? How the heck did you pass the security?" She asked, demanding. I sighed and decided to end the argument.

"Dylan brought me here." I answered, as they both looked at me with blank expressions.

"Oh yeah, I heard you two were getting hot with each other." Kenna commented, rather venomously as she glared at me, giving me the ultimate bitchy look she gave everyone else at school who weren't on her level. I guess Zoey had somehow kissed up to her for the past few weeks because from the looks of it, it seemed like that they had been besties since kindergarten.

I opened my mouth to protest but stopped as the whole plan idea came into my mind. Dylan would be mad if I blew it up to these two since the main reason he was even doing this was to shut their mouths up.

"Are you gonna tell me what you two are doing here now, or should I assume that you broke in and are in need of being reported?" I warned instead.

Kenna opened her mouth but Zoey held her hand up to stop her. She stood up from the chair and took a few steps closer to me with her nose sticking out.

"I'm here to audition to be on the show because unlike you, baby sister, I don't kiss up to people in means of gaining attention and getting what I want. Instead, I work for it." She said, flashing a victorious smile as if she had just won a battle.

I was tongue tied at that. Were people thinking what she said? Was the plan making it seem like that I was luring Dylan for attention? Oh God, if that was true, then the whole situation had gotten even worse than it was before.

"I'm not doing it for attention, Zoey." I quickly regained myself.

"Oh really?" Zoey raised her eyebrow. "Then why would Aria Evans, the girl who hates the idea of dating, go out with Dylan Sprouse of all the people?"

Shit. How am I gonna answer that? It is true though, I had always hated the idea of dating solely for the heck of it. I actually believed in true feelings and love, just so you know.

"I'm, I'm dating him b-because..." I tried to think of a good reason to give her that would be believable. "Because...I l-like him!"

Woah, did I just say that?

"What?" Zoey asked me, squinting her eyes.

Great Aria, now you're gonna have to go with this.

"I really like him, Zoey." I exclaimed, standing up straighter. "And he really l-likes me too. That's why we're dating."

"Hell no! She's lying!" Kenna spoke up. "He doesn't like her! I mean, you should see the way he looks at me during History. He's totally into me." She gave off a shaky laugh. I resisted the sudden urge to laugh because I knew just how inaccurate her statement was.

Wow, talk about desperation.

Zoey ignored Kenna's comment and turned her head back to me. "Look-"

Before she could finish, there was a knock on the door and we turned to see a chubby man standing there with a clipboard in his hand.

"Up for the audition is Zoey D. Evans?" He read the board and looked up at all three of us.

"That's me." Zoey spoke up, running a hand through her hair.

"Alright, let's go. You'll be playing the role of Maya Bennett in Scene 12."

"Yes, I know." Zoey nodded and the man motioned her to follow him out.

"Break a leg!" Kenna waved, flashing her a smile.

"Literally." I added, as Zoey gave me one last glare and with a shove to the shoulder, left with the man. Once they were gone, I turned back to face Kenna who had suddenly crossed her arms and popped her hip out as she shot daggers at my face.

"Spill it." She demanded.

"Spill what?" I asked.

"The real reason why he would go after a girl like you when all this time, I've been-"

"Miserably, and who knows, literally throwing myself at him?" I finished for her, and then, for the heck of it, flashed a smirk.

"You know what, Aria?" She stepped up, gritting her jaw. "No one has gotten on my nerves as much as you have, and just so you know, you will pay the price for it."

With that, she flipped her stick straight blonde hair and stormed out, her heels clicking down the hallway.

I sighed. Why does my life have to be filled with people like them? Ugh.

"And make sure that my dress is ready, I don't want to be late again for the live audience." A voice came from behind me and I turned around and came face to face with the Thai beauty that was well-known for the role of London Tipton.

"Oh, hello!" She smiled as she saw me. "I didn't see you there."

Calm down, Aria. Calm down. She's just a human like you.

"Hi!" I smiled like an idiot. "You're amazing."

Gosh, I can't believe how stupid I sound right now.

She laughed at my comment. "I see you're a fan. What's your-" She stopped midsentence and studied me.

"Wait a second..." She squinted her eyebrows, thinking. I was confused, had I done something.

"By any chance, are you Aria?" She asked.

For a second, I forget how to function my tongue and lips.

"Y-yes. How did you know?" I asked her.

"Dyl had been talking a lot about you and with the description he gave me, I just thought that the black haired, blue-eyed girl in front of me must be Aria Evans." She said, as she walked over to put her purse down on the make up table.

"Wow, you even know my last name." I exclaimed, rather surprised at this whole situation.

"Believe me, thanks to that juice monkey, I know a whole lot more." She sat down on the make up chair.

I blinked, just how much had he been talking to her about me?

"So is it your first time here?" She asked, running a brush through her hair.

"Um, yes. We went shopping and it got late so Dylan didn't get the chance to drop me off home." I spoke, kneeling on the table.

"Hmm.." She furrowed her perfectly shaped eyebrows. "Something tells me that he did that on purpose."

"Why would you think that?" I asked.

"I know Dylan like the back of my hand, sweetheart." She smiled and then scowled as she accidentally messed up her eyeliner. "Ugh, this thing is so hard to put on."

"Its actually easy if you start from the middle." I informed her.

"You know how to do this?" She asked.

"Eyeliner is the one form of make up I don't despise, so yeah." I replied, wanting to distract her mind off of Dylan. The way she put it made it seem like that he was obsessed with me or something, which I doubt was the truth. Brenda then asked me to do it for her and I kindly accepted her request as I drew a perfect line and added a wing. This was a piece of cake to me.

She was grateful and offered me to walk her to the cafeteria so we could grab a bite before she had to leave for shooting again. Like I had predicted before, she really was laid back and easy to make conversations with. And thank God that she was nothing like her character. I had enough of Zoey in my life to have any tolerance to deal with stupid people.

* * *

_Dyl had been talking a lot about you._

_Something tells me that he did that on purpose. _

Brenda's voice rings and repeats itself in my mind as I stared out the car window. Why would Dylan talk to her so much about me that she could even tell who I was without knowing me? Why did she think that he got late on purpose?

I know I'm just over thinking it but still, I can't believe that Dylan actually remembered me outside of our 'plan' shit.

And then with what happened earlier...

Gosh, I need to stop.

"What're you thinking about?" Dylan spoke up from his driver's seat. It was almost eight and after grabbing coffee, we were headed home.

"Nothing." I shook my head.

"Oh come on. Tell me." He encouraged.

"Seriously, its nothing. I just want to go home." I replied.

"Ok, fine. Whatever. I know you'll tell me later." He said and turned up the radio to kill the tensed mood. I immediately calmed down as Ed Sheeran's "SING" started blasting. Man, I love Ed Sheeran.

* * *

I guess thats it for this chapter and for this hectic day for Aria. Hope you liked it. Please review and let me know how you felt. Thanks!


	12. Chapter 12

**Five followers and three favorites! Thank you all sooooo much! I never expected that much for this story! You all are amazing!**

**So, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I had some family and school problems come up, but nevertheless, I'm backkk! And overly excited to post this chapter and hear what you all have to say, so let's get on with another chapter of Aria's Life in LA-**

**Oh, and I have a new cast member...**

**Ashley Benson as Alice! **

**Remember to review! **

* * *

_"Oh, you've done a lot of damage, Missy. Time for payback." His eyes had this weird look of evil in them and the way he was smirking at me right now was dripping with pure viciousness. I freeze in the middle of launching at him as he drops down the cushion from his hand and it falls down on the floor. For some odd reason, my vision was blurry around the corners but crystal clear when I looked at him. What the hell was happening?_

_"You know that I hate when someone messes up my hair," He took slow steps towards me and I find myself gulping. Strong, Aria. You need to keep a strong resolve over here. But he just kept walking closer and I didn't know how long I could keep up my posture._

_He was only inches away when I drop the cushion from my hand as well. _

_"But," He says, and suddenly I feel his hands on my hips. "I won't mind if..."_

_Now, out of nowhere, my back collides with the wall as he traps me between him and it. _

_"If you did it while-" He doesn't complete his sentence as his gaze drops down to my lips. My breath hitches at my throat as I spot the twinkle in his eyes. Oh God, oh God, oh God, what was happening? Where am I?_

_Even though I'm panicking like a maniac inside, I'm actually, as strange at it is, very calm on the outside. _

_"While what?" My voice comes out very low, almost a as a loud whisper. He looks down at me with such an intensity in his eyes that I feel my knees go weak. He doesn't respond, he leans in, tilts his head to the right position and claims my lips. _

_I gasp as his lips move feverishly against mine, and I find myself doing the same for some reason. _

_We're kissing, gosh, we're kissing! No, scratch that, we're down right making out!_

_That crazy voice inside my head soon fades out as I feel him press harder. The kiss is getting more and more urgent and I can't do anything about it. Not when he was..._

"For fucks sake Aria, wake up!" A rather squeaky noise interrupts me. I slowly manage to open up my heavy eyes to have them come in contact with Zoey's. Rubbing them, I sit up and see that I had somehow crashed on the living room couch. The coffee cup from last night still half full rested on the table beside the couch.

"Wha- what happened?" I asked, yawning.

"Mom already left for work and you only have twenty minutes left before the bus comes. Now get the fuck up, its too early for me to handle your shit right now." Zoey nearly shouted as she proceeded on grabbing her purse and car keys.

I looked at her and made a disgusted face.

"Ugh, did pink panther throw up on you or something?"

She rolled her eyes and opened the front door. "At least I don't look like the human form of a nightmare." She remarked and slammed the door behind her.

Nightmare.

Oh God. What had I just dreamt? It seemed to be blurry already but I clearly remember seeing an evil smirk of Dylan Sprouse and kissing-a lot of kissing.

The reminder and flashback immediately made my cheeks burn and I suddenly can't move at all.

Why on earth would I fucking dream that? Now I feel like a creep. I don't even know the guy that well and our relationship wasn't even real. I shouldn't be having such thoughts, and if Dylan found out...oh God no.

No, no, no, the voice inside my head shouted as I stood up and made my way upstairs to my room. He cannot find out about this. Just no.

Right as I stepped in, I saw the boutique bag perched on top of my nicely made bed. Just looking at it shot a dagger into my heart. It was just a constant reminder that I had to force myself into that bathing suit-like dress to please my fake boyfriend and to make all those hoes jealous.

OK, I seriously can't believe that my life was headed into such a direction.

From living a careless life in the Big Apple with my friends to burning in the LA sun while wearing slutty dresses to make stuck up girls jealous was quite a drastic change. Way to go, you fate up there.

I shook myself out of all these negative thoughts and took a quick shower. When I was out, I struggled to find a good outfit to wear and by the time I was done, I missed the bus.

I had just locked the front door when I saw the bus drive away without me yet again.

I was contemplating on whether to walk or just not go at all when my phone vibrated followed by a beep.

I rolled my eyes as I saw that it was a text message from Satan himself.

_I'll be there in about five minutes._

I had completely forgotten about our deal to ride together to make our relationship seem more realistic but honestly, it was just starting to get to me now. The most annoying thing being the unwanted thoughts and dreams I was having.

During my shower, when my eyes were closed, the thought of his hands roaming around my waist had flashed into my mind and I had nearly slipped and died right there in the shower like it happened with the guy in Final Destination. I mean, I am in no position to face Dylan right now, not after all this.

Just the thought of being too physically close to him sent chills down my spine. And with all the fake relationship act that we have to do, I knew that I was totally screwed.

Maybe I can fake being sick and just stay home and go on a Walking Dead marathon with the tub of chocolate ice-cream we have in the freezer downstairs in the basement...

That sounds perfect!

I had just turned around and was about to unlock the door with my keys when I heard a honk. Immediately, my shoulders slumped and I nearly dropped my bag on the ground.

"Turn around, sweetheart. You're headed in the wrong direction." He called from behind me.

Shit man, that morning voice. That fucking morning voice again.

I was doing it again. I needed someone to seriously smack me on the face hard right now. Where's Zoey when you need her?

Sighing, I turned around to his smirk.

"I am planning on faking sick and taking a day off to watch a Walking Dead marathon so leave!" I shouted back and turned back around to insert the key in the keyhole.

"Oh, you can't do that. Not when the whole school is talking about the weekend and the party. We need to get out there man, so get your ass in. We don't have much time." He replied with this strange look in his eyes. Wow, he really seemed determined about this stupid party shit.

"But the Walking Dead-" I whined, but the glare he shot towards me was enough to shut my mouth as I dropped my head and scurried into the car without a second word.

I seriously need to regain my boundaries, I can't let myself be pushed around by a guy anymore. Especially not a guy that I keep having those kind of thoughts of.

Gosh, I need to stop thinking about that before I end up blushing in front of him!

* * *

The school morning was normal.

And by normal, I meant that we had gotten killer glares from Kenna, Zoey and the rest of their pink panthers, Eric seemed very attached to me during World History, and that Dylan nearly, nearly, like seriously, I'm trying to stress the word here, nearly kissed me on the lips when he reached over towards my cheek during our little act in front of a bunch of fuming, hormonal girls.

The whole situation was very odd actually. Instead of making it awkward, he just flashed his smile at me with, "We ought to be more careful before getting carried away, babe."

With that, he just winked, smirked at the girls, and went off to his class, leaving me standing near the lockers as a frozen statue.

Not only that, but during Creative Writing class, the one I shared with Bree, Bree actually looked at me and gave sly smile and a wave.

I kept guessing that maybe she had realized just how stupid she was acting before and probably feeling sorry for it. But, whatever. I guess I'll forgive her. Why should I hold a grudge against her for something that might be, on a very tiny scale, understandable if you were in her place.

Eric, on the other hand, made sure to keep reminding me of his birthday party up until it felt as if someone had literally clawed it into the wrinkly surface of my brain. He kept turning back to look at me and whenever I would catch him, he would just smile and turn back towards the front. Not only that, but when we were asked to choose partners for our history project, Eric literally pushed away a guy in his way only so he could ask me to be his partner before anyone else could. Me, being the nicey nice that I am, couldn't get the word 'NO' out in time before Eric had made himself comfortable on the seat next to mine and even went ahead and wrote down our names together on the poster paper.

Saying that I was being crept out because of him would be an understatement.

When lunch came around, I didn't wait for Dylan and went ahead and sat down with some of my friends. Strangely enough, I didn't see him enter the cafeteria either.

"OMG, Aria." This girl from my English class, Emily, had exclaimed. "You and Dylan look totally perff!"

I just replied to her with an awkward smile and turned to Alice for help. Next to Bree, Alice was the closest friend I had made when I moved here. She related a lot with me, even with our love for wearing darker colors. We weren't emo, no, but we definitely weren't glittery and glossy like Kenna and her barbie dolls.

Which reminds me of the paper I found earlier in my locker. In big letters, and also in pink ink, it read:

_You better watch your back._ -XO Kenna

I swear, I hadn't laughed as much as I did upon reading that piece of shit since I moved states. It was honestly so immature and totally pathetic of her that I couldn't help but burst out in the middle of the hallway.

I wanted to show Dylan the letter because I knew he would've laughed his ass off too but I didn't see him at all that afternoon. It was strange because I thought he was planning on creating a scene today but at the same time, I was also very thankful. I still hadn't fully gotten used to all the attention that our fake relationship had caused.

But since Dylan wasn't around anywhere, I ended up looking around for him so much at the end of the day (since he was my ride) that I missed the school bus. I was beyond annoyed at that point. That bus never waited for me and I didn't know where that fuckhead had suddenly disappeared to.

It was extremely cold outside and walking definitely did not seem like the best option, not when I was wearing only my thin leather jacket.

And I couldn't believe that I had underestimated fate's cruelty because the next thing I knew, Eric had suddenly appeared behind me and had started on insisting on giving me a ride. This time, I did say no, using the excuse that I could wait for my mom, but he didn't buy it and somehow I ended up in his car.

Walking seemed like the best option now, but, it was too late.

I was thankful during the whole ride at how talkative that guy was. The last thing I wanted was utter silence and awkwardness in a car alone with him.

He told me almost everything, from his failed attempts at fooling Mr. Green to how proud he was to be on the wrestling team. I may be over thinking it, but I could swear that he was trying his best to impress me. Ugh, boys. They're all the same.

When he finally turned into my drive way, I gave him a genuine smile with a thank you and was about to step out when I felt his hand on my shoulder. I turned around to look at him, but instead of saying something, all he did was stare at me.

I felt oddly uncomfortable at that, so I went ahead and asked, "Um, Eric? Do you need something?"

His lips just went up into a smile. "No, I just wanted you to know that," His hand on my shoulder dropped and traveled down my arm, rather slowly. "I really am looking forward to seeing you at my birthday party."

I blinked at the way he was looking at me right now.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be there." I said in a fast motion and exited the car. "Thanks for the ride." I said through the window and without a second look or a word, I turned around and climbed the stairs to my porch in order to get as far away from Eric Daniels as I could. I let out a sigh of relief as I heard the car drive away and proceeded on unlocking the door when I pause.

I suddenly get this odd feeling of being stared at, so I looked around until my eyes stopped at dark, grey ones. Eyebrows furrowed together, he was looking at me with this blank look in his eyes, which seemed more darker then they usually did before. He didn't do or say anything, no smirk, no annoying remarks, just that stare. After locking our intense gazes for another two seconds or so, he broke it off and stormed inside his house without another look.

Well, that was strange, I thought as I entered my own house.

* * *

I'm guessing that's all for now. I can't wait to get to the party chapter! But anyways, what did you guys think? Leave your feedback in the review section, thanks!


	13. Chapter 13

Weird. Odd. Otherworldly. Insane. Stupid. Annoying. Total Shit head.

That was only few of the words that were popping up in my head as we drove in silence to school. Dylan came to pick me up super early today and had crashed around my living room until I was ready. Normally, since I was so used to his stubbornness, I wouldn't have gotten as annoyed as I was right now. That's probably because normally, it would be impossible to keep his mouth shut but today, he hadn't spoken a word. His responses to my questions consisted of simple 'Hmms' and quite nods without any eye contact.

From the looks of it, any idiot could tell that he was pissed off at something. But the question was, at what? It couldn't be me, right? I didn't do anything. Or did I? Ugh.

"We're here." He announced dismissively, getting out the car before I could even comprehend at what was happening.

Sheesh.

I scowled to myself and grabbed my bag, stepping out as well.

My long, black hair started to sweep around in the wind and I cursed myself for forgetting to bring a hair tie. This, like any other day, was already headed to an amazing start. (Please note the sarcasm.)

Dylan and I started walking our way in and I noticed how he didn't put his arm around me like he usually did. Instead, he just placed his hands in his pockets and walked without a word coming out of his mouth.

And it was starting to enrage me.

Sure I always complain about him, his cockiness, his interference in my life, his stubbornness, his plans, his remarks, mostly everything, but, at the same time, he had somehow become a fucking part of my life. An unwanted and unexpected part of my life, but nevertheless, a part of my life. So its understandable why I would be annoyed by his behavior right now. I wasn't used to this side of him and I didn't want to be either.

We silently enter the hallway and go our usual way of going to my locker. Dylan leaned on the other lockers and fished out his phone, completely ignoring me. I shot glares at him as I reached for my books.

Why? Why the fuck was he behaving like this?

I shook my head and sighing, slammed my locker and turned to him.

"Look at me." I demanded. All he did was arch his eyebrow with a "Hm?" again.

"For fucks sake, look at me!" I commanded, this time louder.

He sighed and put his phone away before turning to me with narrowed eyes.

"What?" He snapped.

"Care to explain why you're acting like the boy version of my sister during her period right now?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He shrugged, simply.

I prayed for a smirk, a dirty joke, a cocky remark, anything. Anything from him that would make this better but my prayer was left unanswered.

"Yes, you do. Ever since yesterday, you've been ignoring me and acting like you're pissed off or something. Why?" I questioned, trying to sound as calm as I could because I didn't want to get people's attention.

Instead of answering me, his eyes darted over to something past me and immediately, his whole expression turned dark. Well, darker that is. Curiously, I turned around and followed his gaze. There, on the other side of the hallway was Eric, looking over at our direction from his locker. His eyes stopped at me and he smiled and waved towards me. I didn't reply, but turned back to Dylan, who, at this point, was clenching his jaws together.

"Eric? Is that why you're mad?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. He looked at me for a second before shaking his head and walking past me.

"Forget it." He muttered.

"No, tell me!" I pushed on. Why would he be mad at Eric anyways? I thought they were buddies.

"You won't get it." He muttered again as I tried to keep my pace up with him.

"You haven't even explained it yet so how am I supposed to?" I snapped.

"I did, I already have." He snapped back, stopping mid tracks to look at me. "But you didn't hear me the first time so why should I bother wasting my breath the second time?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Can you stop making me solve riddles and just tell me what the fuck is wrong?"

"I-I," He pinched the top of of his nose bridge before continuing as if he was trying to keep himself from exploding. " I already told you of how big of a scumbag Eric is and yet you chose to ignore me and still go after him."

"Go after him? Now what the fuck does that mean?" I was starting to boil from the inside. "Please don't tell me you think there's something between me and Eric Daniels?"

I think I might just puke from the thought of it.

"Well my bad if that's what I thought of when I saw you in his car yesterday!" He was almost yelling at this point. "Couldn't you wait for me or did you just take it as your chance to get close to him?"

"Wait for you?!" I shouted. "How could I wait for you when you disappeared in the middle of the day and then wouldn't even answer any texts or calls? And I did wait for you, enough to miss the bus so that's why Eric gave me a ride."

"I had an emergency call from the studios! I had to go! That didn't mean that I was completely ditching on you!" He hollered, his eyes twinkling with anger. "Besides, couldn't you be a little patient with my schedule instead of throwing yourself towards Eric right away?"

"Throwing myself towards Eric?!" I shouted. "Dylan, exactly what have you been thinking this whole time? I can't fucking believe you!"

"Please, can't blame me for thinking that after I saw you two kissing in his car." He grinned, but an angry one.

My mouth almost dropped down to my feet. Kissing?!

"We were not kissing! How could yo-" I was interrupted mid-sentence by the loud sound of the school bell.

"Just save it for someone else." Dylan shook his head at me and turned away to the other direction without a second word.

Raging in fumes, I growled and smacked the lockers before storming off as well.

I really wished that he would get run over by a truck right now.

* * *

"Please?" I begged into the phone.

"Dude, I ain't going to some jock's party, OK? I don't wanna get infected by all the sluts that would be present there." Alice spoke from the other end of the line, her voice deepened due to her full mouth.

"But, I don't wanna be there alone! Dylan's mad at me, I don't know where me and Bree even stand right now, and Eric is too touchy nowadays and I don't know how I will be able to handle all that shit at once by myself." I tried again, rambling into the phone as I paced back and forth in my room, tied in towels.

I had just returned from taking a shower. My black dress was spread on the bed, waiting for me to slip it on. I had ended up panicking at the last minute and called Alice to ask for her help, begging her to come along so I would have someone to hold onto in that madhouse but she was bent on not going, not that I blamed her.

"Well then here's an idea," Sarcasm dipped from her voice before she practically yelled, "Don't. Go."

I sighed, and groaning, dropped down on my bed.

"I have to!" I complained. "Dylan's forcing me to go and he's already too mad at me and I don't want him to be more!"

"Since when did you started caring about his moods?" She questioned. She was actually the only one that I had told the truth about our fake relationship.

I thought about her question. Yeah, since when did I?

I frowned despite the fact that no one could see it. "I don't know. I just know that he's too stubborn and whether we fought or not, he would still take me."

"Seriously, why are you letting a guy just push you around like that?" She asked. "I didn't expect that from a girl who grew up in a place like New York."

Sighing, I dropped down on the mattress on my back.

"I honestly don't know, Al. I mean, he's only doing all of this to help me and to stop people from misjudging me. I guess I'm just trying to show my gratitude by listening to his stupid plans." I rolled my eyes and placed my hand on my forehead.

"Aria," Alice exclaimed. "This is the same guy that accused you of kissing Eric and going after him. He completelly insulted your character by that! How can you still-"

"That was all a misunderstanding. I'll explain it to him once his anger has calmed down. And I'd rather kiss a fucking frog than kiss Eric." I cut her off.

"Why is he so mad at that anyways? Is he jealous or something?"

"Why the fuck would he be jealous?" I let out a chuckle. "He's just mad that I didn't wait for him or something but stop distracting me, I still want you to come."

"Nope. Sorry, babe. Anything but this."

"Alice, please!"

"Oh, hey, shut up. I hear something." She said, suddenly sounding alarm. Confused, I remained silent for two seconds before speaking up again.

"What is it?"

"Oh, never mind. I actually thought that I could hear myself thinking about going, but don't worry. False alarm." She grinned into the phone.

"You know what? Fuck you!" I snapped and pressed the end call button right after hearing an evil laughter from her line, throwing the phone across the bed.

I huff out a deep breath.

I only had an hour left to get ready before Dylan would arrive here to pick me up.

Ugh, I really wanted to just disappear right now. Just thinking about going to the party was making me gag due to my wrecked nerves. The more I thought about swaying my hips down to the beach house in that short dress, the more I got sick and the need to pull my hair out.

Maybe I could take a quick nap before getting ready?

So, getting comfortable on my bed, I put on an alarm and soon started to doze off...

But, right then, the door to bed room flew open and I shot up.

I saw that Dylan had just entered and was breathing really fast, as if he had just ran here.

"Dylan?" I spoke, my voice shaking. "What are you doing here so early?"

He wiped the sweat from his mouth and ignoring me, closed the door behind him. He leaned his head back on it and closed his eyes for a second.

I studied his odd behavior up until he finally brought his head back down and looked at me dead in the eyes. There, the darkness was present there once again, but this time, it was accompanied by a mysterious sparkle as he pushed off from the door and walked up to where I was sitting on the bed.

Every step he took towards me rose my heart beat and I clutched the bath robe around me tighter. What was he even doing?

"I better not see you anywhere around him anymore." He spoke through clenched jaws and the next thing I knew, my back had fallen back on the mattress as his figure hovered above me.

I gulped, he was way too close. The only distance was caused by him keeping himself propped up on his arms, which currently had me trapped between them.

"I hate when he looks at you the way he does." Dylan whispered, looking into my eyes and trailing his finger from my temple to chin.

"I hate it so much, my blood cringes." His warm breath hit my face and I felt like that the distance was closing. I couldn't do anything, it was as if like I had no control over my own body. As his face came closer, my gaze dropped down to his lips. They were close, so close...

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

My eyes flew open and I shot up in my bed. My head felt hazy as I looked around to study my surroundings. I was still in my room and the door was still locked, just like I had done before going into the shower. There was no Dylan here.

Groaning and clutching my throbbing head, I turned the beeping alarm off and threw my phone away. I was angry at the thought of having yet another dream like that of Dylan.

Why? Why the fuck was that happening?

It was so surreal of me to keep dreaming of a guy in that way. I hated it so much.

Cursing and shaking my head off, I got up and started to get ready for the party.

About twenty five minutes later, I was all ready to go as I checked myself out in the mirror one last time. I had left my hair out in loose waves and was wearing only a few make up with a smoky eye shadow and nude colored lipstick. I can't believe that I was wearing make up, but with this dress, it would've looked wrong not wearing any so I had to force myself. I kept running my hands over my dress.

It fitted perfectly over my torso, but it was the fucking shortness of it that was getting to me. I hated how so much of my legs were revealing because of it.

"Oh my goodness..." I heard my mother. I turned to see her cover her mouth with both of her hands as she looked me up and down, almost in tears. I rolled my eyes.

"Aria...you look so beautiful..." She whispered, now placing a hand over her chest.

"Mom," I spoke. "I feel like a fucking slut right now.. How can you even say that? Shouldn't you be yelling at me to change my clothes right now like any other motehr?"

"Oh pish posh!" She waved her hand off. "The dress looks perfect in every way. It's as if it was made for you." She then inched closer and spoke in a hushed voice. "He really has a good taste, a total keeper you know." She winked.

I rolled my eyes yet again as I grabbed my jacket and phone.

"Mom, please. We're only friends."

"Is that the term you kids are using these days for romantic relationships? 'Only friends'?" She did the quotation marks with her fingers.

"Mom!" I stomped my feet, annoyed by her teasing.

Just then, we both turn our heads towards the window as we heard a car pull up in our drive way.

"Oooooh, he's hereeeeee." My mom cooed and poked my arm as I walked past her outside the room. I said goodbye to her after slipping my heels on and stepped out.

I spotted Dylan leaning on his car and for a second, I just stood there and took in his figure. He was wearing black pants with a dark satin grey button up dress shirt of which's top three buttons he had left undone. His hair seemed slightly wet and spiky at the tips as they fell on his forehead as he looked down at his phone, careless about his surroundings.

If I was talking like the type of girls that wore dresses like the on I was wearing right now, I would definitely say that he looked mouth-droppingly hot.

Gosh, did I just fucking say that?

Virtually smacking myself on the head, I climbed the stairs and walked the stone path towards the car, the clicking of my heels finally earning his attention.

He just sort of froze as he took me in from head to toe. His mouth even slightly opened up as he stared at the dress, making me wanting to desperately crawl inside a pitch black gutter and spend my rest of life there. My cheeks started to burn from all the attention and I cleared my throat.

He blinked out of it and looked up to have his eyes meet mine. The grey in them was just as sharp as the color of his shirt and for a second, I thought he was going to make his usual annoying comments followed by those teasing smirks of his, but he didn't, instead he pushed off from the car and opened the door for me.

"Come on, we're running late." He merely said with any emotions is his voice.

I sighed and sat in, as he closed the door and walked over to his seat.

His mood was still off and it was pissing me off all over again. It took me quite some willingness to get over what he had made out of the whole Eric giving me a ride situation, but his still-fuming anger and grumpiness was making me regret my decision.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

I'm so tired :( so sorry, but I'll add the party next chapter. I just wanted to put an update to wipe off any confusion.

To Emma (Guest), I hope this chapter helped you understand why Dylan reacted the way he did last chapter :)

Thanks you guys! I hope you enjoyed it, review to let me know what you liked or didn't like!

There's lot of...stuff...coming up so stay tuned!


	14. Chapter 14

**I guess this would be the last update before fucking schools starts again -_-. I am going to be testing a lot in the next three weeks so expect slow updates, sorrryy. But, at least we can get to the Party till then. **

**So, before any more further delay, let's partaayy-**

* * *

It was the most silent, awkward car ride I had ever been in. He kept his eyes on the road and I kept mine staring out the window. Even though I was dreading it, I finally relaxed as I saw the beach come up. Dylan parked his car along with a white Mitsubishi, which looked familiar enough to be Cole's.

Instead of getting out, Dylan remained seated, both his hands clutching the wheel hard as he stared straight up ahead. I sat there, waiting. Waiting for his next outrage, or accusation, or taunt, but he just took a deep breath and calmed down, his shoulder slumping as his hands loosened on the wheel.

He closed his eyes for a second, but then opened them and turned to me.

"I know that we had a bit of an...argument...earlier, but now we have to put it behind us in order to act like a happy couple in front of them all." He spoke.

I squinted my eyes disbelievingly. Did he just turn tables that fast?

"A bit of an argument?" I asked. "Dylan, you fucking accused me of kissing a guy! And going after him behind your back! Do you really think that I can just put this behind myself and forget it?"

He narrowed his eyes and the calmness that was present in them before immediately wiped away.

"Accuse? No, the way you guys could be seen sitting so close in the car made it obvious that you were kissing him. What was it, a 'thank you' kiss?" He asked sarcastically.

"For the last time!" My voice raised, "We were not kissing! Nothing like that happened."

He just turned away from me and looked straight up ahead, with that dull expression of his.

"Did he tell you to keep it from me? Whatever it is that's going between you two?" He asked and then grinned. "That's just so much like him. It will be just a time before he tricks you into bed like a tiger preys on a hyena."

That was it. I couldn't handle his shit anymore. I grabbed my jacket and phone and stormed out the car, slamming the door behind me. The ocean breeze was really cold as it whipped my hair, but not cold enough to calm down the fire that was boiling my blood right now.

He wasn't even willing to hear me out. Instead, he was bent on thinking the same thing over and over again. I was done. He didn't deserve my forgiveness anymore.

_I hate the way he looks at you. _

His voice from my dream sounded in my heart and I had to shut my eyes and shake my head in order to divert my mind from it. I needed to stay away from that douche, even though that was the complete opposite reason of why we even came here in the first place.

I think I may have heard him call behind me, but instead of obeying his orders like always, I fastened my pace and entered the big, luxurious beach house.

It was highly crowded in here. The music was blasting and most of the people were group dancing in the middle of the big living room type hall. In the front big glass wall, that was out looking the dark ocean, were big words plastered that read, 'Happy Birthday Eric!'

The energy in this place was exhilarating. It surged through your skin, into you blood stream, and to your heart, making you feel like you were in a whole new plane all together. For the first time ever, I felt myself swaying my hips lightly along with the intoxicating beat of the music that was blasting over from where the DJ was.

I felt very...alive...right now. And to keep the balance in, I knew that I was in desperate need of a drink. So, content with my decision, I went ahead and started making my way through the dancing bodies towards the drink table.

Kissing Eric.

Pft!

Even an idiot would know better that a girl like me would never run after an ass like Eric Daniels.

Then how could he?

Thought he knew me better...

Ah, fuck it, Aria! All you need right now is one of those big ass red cups.

Smiling to myself, I went ahead and got my drink. I couldn't believe myself right now. I never drank, ever. I used to party in New York, but I mostly stayed with my group of friends and we would always watch out for each other. But here, now, at this time, I couldn't give a flying fuck. I took a small sip and immediately felt like spitting it right out. It was warm, very bitterly strong too and it made the taste in my mouth weird. But yet, instead of actually spitting it out, I went ahead and took another sip. It wasn't really kicking in yet, but I knew that it won't be long before it did.

"Heyyy, you made it." A voice sang to me from behind and I felt a strong hand rest at the very end of my back, just a few inches above my butt.

So the birthday boy was here.

I plaster a rather large smile on my mouth as I turn to him.

"I suuure did." I sing-songed. "Happy Birthday you little party boy." I grinned, poking my finger to his chest. He flashed a perfect grin towards me as his eyes roamed around every part of my body, looking from my head to toe, lingering over my chest and my bare legs.

"Thanks, sweetheart," He smirked, "You're yet to see the wild part of this party animal."

He then slipped his entire arm around my lower back and pulled me closer to him. Even though I was a little wheezy from all the alcohol, I knew better than to just let this guy gain any control over me. I placed my hand on his chest and kept it firm there to prevent anymore closeness.

"Wanna go dance, beautiful?" He huskily whispered in my ear. As his breath hit the side of my face, I could smell the alcohol scent in it. He was clearly drunk right now.

"Umm, no..." I tried to put pressure on my hand to push him a bit away, but failed as he just pulled me even closer. "I'm not really good at dancing." I lied.

"Oh come on," Eric whispered, jabbing his fingers into my hips. "I'll teach you."

I let out a nervous laugh but all he did was smirk at me as his eyes kept traveling down.

"No, I'm fine here." I tried pushing him away again.

This time, he loosened up as I managed to let out a relaxed breath of relief.

"You know what, that's fine too." He smiled, "let's skip the dancing and go out in the porch to get some privacy." He smirked and grabbed my hand.

"You know, I'm here with someone, I really don't think that that's a good idea." I said, but he didn't hear me and pulled me through the people with him. I started to panic and looked around for some help. But there were too many people dancing and crowded around us for me to really see anyone.

Gosh, where was Dylan?!

My heart beat rose as Eric pulled me out of the beach house and into the patio like porch that faced the ocean. It was night time so it was dark and the sun had set a long time ago.

For a few minutes, we both just stood there and looked towards the ocean. My hair flowing gently in the breeze.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Eric spoke up.

Me, being the nervous wreck that I was right now, could only manage to nod as I gulped. We were the only ones out here and I doubt anyone could hear us over the loud music.

"But not as beautiful as you," He then smirked and turned his body towards me, walking up close.

"E-eric..I really don't think that-" I took steps back until I felt my back hit against the wall. Eric placed both his hands on the either side of my head, trapping me in.

"You look so hot in that dress, did you buy it especially for me?" He looked up and down my body again, and this time, dared to put his hand on my lower thigh.

I was way over in my panic mode right now, shivering like I had a cold or something.

"Eric, I don't want to do th-" I tried to push his leaning figure away but he grabbed my hand and pinned it up by the wall beside my head as his other hand traveled higher up my thigh.

"Sh, Aria. There's no need to talk right now." He whispered and snuggled into my neck, sniffing me in.

I felt violated, I felt like a driving by car had just splashed a ton of mud all over my body, I felt filthy at the contact of his skin with mine.

I felt like crying but no tears came out.

"You're just sooo fucking hot..." He whispered in my ear as he trailed his lips all over my neck. I was pushing, punching, hitting him on the shoulder to tell him to let go but he was too drunk and too strong for me to take over alone.

"Eric, let go of me!" I shouted, struggling.

"Shh, baby, stop fighting, it will make everything feel that much...heightened." He whispered again,now roaming his hands all over my body.

Kill me, someone, please kill me.

"Eric, stop!" I yelled, my vision getting blurry by the tears that were building up by my tear line. His hand dropped down to my butt and started groping me there and I felt like screaming my heart out. I punched his shoulder and even dug my long nails in his skin, but everything failed miserably.

"Relax, baby, just relax." His lips were trailing way below now. I frantically looked around and found a an empty metal napkin holder on the table close by. I reached over, grabbed it, and before Eric could get any further below, I smashed it right into his head.

He growled out in pain and pushed away, releasing me from the trap of his filthy hands.

"FUCK!" He roared and messaged his head. I dropped the metal piece from my hand and with tear stained cheeks, ran inside before he could lounge at me again.

Right as I did, I spotted some girls come out of a door, giggling. Figuring that that was the bathroom, I ran inside and locked the door.

Crying, I went over to the mirror and saw that my liner and mascara had left black streaks of tears on my face. I washed my face thoroughly and even wiped a wet hand all over my neck and shoulders, where that fucking son of a bitch had placed his lips all over.

I should have known better then to come here.

Why the fuck did I do this to myself?!

Why the fuck does everything wrong have to happen to me?! WHY?

My uncontrollable tears mixed in with the cold water as I splashed it hard on my face, splattering it all over around me.

The way his hands were groping me all over flashed back and I splashed the water more harder. Trying my best to wash his trace off of me.

Just then, I heard a firm knock on the bathroom door. I froze in one place.

My God, was Eric back? Was he angry and wanted to seriously get a revenge on me for hitting him? Did he know how to unlock the door from outside? Was I gonna get-

"Aria?" His voice came through. The speed of how fast my muscles relaxed upon hearing him through the door was amazing. I turned the water off and waited for him to speak again, just to make sure that it was truly him.

"Aria, are you OK?" Yes, it was definitely him. It was him. It really was him. Without a doubt.

I grabbed a paper towel and wiped my face with it, trying to look as less of a mess as I could. I then grabbed my jacket and threw it on.

I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes were the color of blood, even dulling out the sharp hue of blue of my pupils.

_Shh, baby, stop fighting, it will make everything feel that much...heightened._

Eric flashed back in my mind.

"Aria, you're worrying me. Open the door!" Dylan's voice snapped me out.

I went over and flew the door open, and before even I could comprehend what I was doing, I engulfed myself deep in his chest.

He was tensed up at the shock of my sudden action, but as he realized that I was still crying quietly, I felt the warmth of his strong arms tightly embrace me in.

"Gosh, what happened? Where did you go, I was getting worried trying to find you!" He said, but I was too lost in his coziness to answer.

I didn't want to think about our fight right now. I didn't want to think about anything right now. I just wanted to stay here, protected in his arms.

"Aria?" Concern dipped from his voice as I felt the movement of his murmuring lips against my hair.

"I just want go home..." I answered weakly.

"But are you OK?" He asked.

"I just wanna go home...please." I repeated.

He let out a deep breath as I felt the calm movement of his chest beneath my cheek. That made me sigh and relax down even more. I didn't want to think why he was having this effect on me, at least not right now.

He rubbed my arm up and down, warming me up as his embrace tightened.

"OK, let's go home my Lil' Ar Ar."

* * *

Soooooooooooooo,

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	15. Chapter 15

**I hope that the outcome of the last chapter wasn't too intense, disturbing, or totally shitty. But, with high hopes, here I strike again. **

**School got canceled because of snow and I couldn't be happier. :)))))))YAY!**

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We both were silent most of the way back, although this time, our silence wasn't awkward, neither was it filled with us momentarily giving each other angry glares. Instead, it was calm, a comfortable type of silence.

But yet, I was still shivering from the result of getting sexually assaulted. Thanks to Eric fucking Daniels.

"Are you cold?" Dylan broke the silence, glimpsing at me and already reaching his hand to turn up the heat. I didn't look at him, I kept my face turned towards the window. I even had my hoodie up. I didn't want him to see my red eyes, or how fast they started to tear up constantly since the vision of Eric touching me every where flashed back involuntarily in my mind.

I didn't even know how bad I was going to break down once I get to my room. Where there won't be anyone to see the usually strong Aria come down to her knees, not even Dylan.

"No. I'm OK." I lied to him.

I wasn't. I wasn't near to being OK. Never in my life had I ever let a boy invade my personal space, but I didn't know what happened today. Where the strength I once possessed had suddenly gone. Why I even let all this to happen to me.

I was clean before, and although nothing too serious had happened, all I felt right now was utter filth on every spot of my body. The whole event had left some sort of a mental mark on my mind and I wished I could just somehow erase it forever.

"No, you're not." Dylan interrupted, as if reading my thoughts. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

This was the second time he he had asked me that question ever since we left the party. And now, I felt as if he was getting anxious due to not knowing why I was behaving like this. But, I wasn't willing to tell him, at least not yet. I did not have the energy, physical, mental, or emotional to repeat that dreadful event in words. Just the constant thought of it was making me sick.

"No." I answered again, my voice shaking.

I can't believe I was this scared. I had no courage, no strength, nothing that would give me a strong ground to stand up on. I wanted to pull my hair out, to scream till my throat felt too scratchy to continue, to break every fragile thing in eyesight. But all at the same time, I wanted to lock my bedroom doors, bury myself in my covers, and just go to sleep for a very very long time.

For all I knew, what if Eric was following us right now? What if he was planning on sneaking in to my room later to complete his unfinished business or to get his revenge for what I did to him? Who knows, kidnap me and keep me hostage at some dungeon to be his sex slave for the rest of my life?

It was official, I was loosing it now.

"Something really is wrong isn't it?" I heard his voice again, this time soft and low.

"Hm?" I asked, not catching completely what he was saying since I was too lost in my own thoughts.

"Nothing, just that we're here." He pointed out and that's when I realized that we were parked in my driveway. I didn't even know when we had arrived.

With a shaky hand, I opened the car door and stepped out. The cold wind swept through my bare legs and I felt weak as the thought of Eric's hand on my thigh shot back. My eyes stung, and I had to blink it away.

I turned to Dylan from the opened car window.

"I'm sorry I ruined your night. You should go back and enjoy." I said as he studied my face.

"Are you stupid? Why the fuck would I go back there? I didn't want to go in the first place." He answered.

I shifted my feet and looked at them, avoiding his intense stare.

"Then, I guess I'll see you at school." I merely said, and stepped back.

He blinked and opened his mouth, "Listen, Aria-"

"Bye, Dylan." I interrupted him and turned around and sped into my house before he could further question my miserable state.

I slammed the front door and locked it, resting my back on it as I closed my eyes and tried to calm my uneven breaths.

I should have never spoken to Eric that day in History. Not when I could tell what kind of signals he was sending me. Gosh, what on earth had gotten to me?

Sighing, I walked in to the kitchen and then to the living room. There was no one home. I even yelled out Mom's name and Zoey's, but no response came. Immediately, the picture of Eric sneaking into the house seeped in and made me go all in the panic mode once again. I went around the house and shut off every window and even drew the curtains. Mom would ask about this, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

After I was almost satisfied with everything, I went ahead and climbed the stairs to my bedroom.

I froze in the middle as I heard firm knocking on the door. My heart started thumping loudly in my chest.

Eric was strong enough to bust through the door, wasn't he?

I turned to the door and stared at it for what seemed like hours. The knocking was getting louder and louder by the second.

I climbed down the stairs with shaky legs and on my way, grabbed a large glass vase. Keeping it in a strong position, I extended my other hand, unlocked the door and turned the knob.

I was about to launch it right as I flew open the door but froze mid-air as my eyes stared at Dylan's wide grey ones. He questioningly looked at the vase in my hands and shook his head.

Huffing, he took it from my hands, stepped in, closed the door and pressed his back to it, crossing his arms.

"I was just here to return your phone that you forgot in my car but after seeing this, I'm not leaving until you tell me exactly what happened that's causing all this." He sternly said.

I sighed and practically snatched my phone away from him and went back to the stairs, "Make yourself comfortable then, I don't feel like talking."

I went ahead and in to my room, from there I grabbed my towel and pajamas and locked the bathroom attached to my bedroom. I was going to have a long session with the shower today.

"You can't get rid of me! I'm welcoming myself in!" I heard Dylan yell over from my room. Shaking my head, I stepped into the shower and let the hot water run all over my body. My muscles relaxed, my breathing relaxed, my bones and pulse relaxed, but my mind did not. I felt like covering myself with layers and layers of clothing, and to make sure that no one will be able to forcefully take them off of me, to staple them to my skin.

That sounds disturbing and highly mentally questionable, I know. But, try being in my shoe. I'm only sixteen and nearly got raped tonight.

Guess I know now how bad Bree must have had it, to be touched and violated by filthy hands against your will. To be used like a fucking material. To have your strength outrunned and your screams for help muffled.

But she had her loving boyfriend looking after her. The one who got his revenge when he beat that guy (Nathan?) to bits. The same one in whose arms she could cry and bawl out in afterwards. The one she could rely upon for her safety every time she felt threatened. The support, the ear to her that she could talk to about of the whole situation.

I didn't, I didn't have that privilege.

I couldn't think of even one person that I was comfortable sharing my near-to death experience with. Not even my mom. Mostly because she would take it all way too seriously and would go as far as hiring a bodyguard to keep an eye on me all the time. And having a husky bald man following me everywhere would just be like carrying a poster of 'I need a babysitter now after nearly getting raped. Please pity me.'

I didn't want that. Not at all. I didn't want people to know, not when all they would do is keep rubbing it in my face.

I didn't know what to do. Or where to go.

So I just stood there, in the shower, with my head bent low and eyes closed. The water was way too hot now, but I didn't move or turn it off. I didn't even have any idea of how long I had been here.

I need to think of something else. Something happy and positive.

Ponies. Rainbows. Chocolate. Galaxy cat-

But all of the torturous scenes came and nothing else. I flew open my eyes and felt this sudden rush to just rip my skin off, the one Eric's hands had abused. I grabbed the loofah and scrubbed myself harder and harder. I scrubbed it on every part of my body, wishing to just make it disappear. I didn't want it anymore, I didn't want this touched body anymore.

So I kept scrubbing till my skin turned red, which became even redder with the contact of the hot water.

I was loosing my mind at this point. I was taking this way too seriously. There are people out there who get into worse situations, way worse situations, mine was nothing compared to them, yet I was acting like I was about to die. And so the salty tears started to escape once again.

I sat down on the shower floor and hugged my legs close to my chest.

But then, whatever trance of panic or trauma I had been in, was interrupted as I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

Was it Eric?

"Aria! There's steam coming out from beneath the door, how hot do you have the water on?!" No, it was Dylan.

Thank God it was Dylan.

Dylan.

Not Eric.

I finally wiped away the tears and looked around to find the whole bathroom filled with smoky steam coming from the agonizingly hot water.

I stood up and turned the water off, wincing now as it touched my skin. My whole skin was burning. It hurt.

What the fuck had I done to myself?

"Aria!" Dylan banged on the door. "This has passed the limits, get the fuck out of there!"

I looked like a tomato right now due to all the redness of my skin all that scrubbing and hot water had caused.

"I'm coming, just wait!" I yelled back and heard him sigh loudly from the other side of the door.

I reached over and wrapped myself in a towel. I waited till the steam had gone and for my skin to become less reddened before I put on my blue pajamas with a simple dark blue full sleeved shirt on. I let my hair out to air-dry and prepared myself to step out, to face whatever Dylan had waiting for me. With the wet towel hanging on my elbow, I took a deep breath and turned the knob and stepped out, meeting the much colder environment of the room.

Dylan was resting on the bean bag, his legs perched up on the other bean bag I had, munching chips from a big, family sized bag. His eyes never left me.

"What?" I asked, walking over and spreading out my towel across my desk chair to let it dry there.

"It may not look like it, " He popped a chip in his mouth, "but I'm dying inside because you're not telling me what happened to you."

"I just don't want to talk about it, what part of that don't you understand?" I questioned him.

"The don't part." He popped another chip in his mouth. "I thought we were developing a very close friendship type of relationship, you know?"

"Well then, you thought wrong." I exclaimed and dropped down on my bed.

"Sheesh, is this what I get for waiting for you to get out the shower for the past almost two hours?" He shook his head.

I turned to him and raised my eyebrow, "I was in there for two hours?"

He stopped eating and just looked at me. Whatever calmness he was showing off before clearly vanished from his face. All I could point out now was pure concern, on every corner of his face. Especially in those unbelievably grey eyes of his. He placed the bag of chips down.

"Aria, whatever this is, it's messing you up, and I don't want you to face it alone. And about the fight we had-"

"I don't want to talk about the fight. Or about anything." I grunted and fell back on the bed, throwing the covers over my head and turning my back to him.

Just go away.

_Please don't._

Get out of my room.

_Don't leave me._

I don't, I honestly don't know where the second voice was coming from.

I heard a long sigh come from him, followed by the sound of footsteps. Soon enough, I feel the bed lower down as he takes a seat next to me. I can't see him, but I can feel the gush of warmth from him through my duvet.

"Fine, I won't force you to talk about it anymore. But when you're ready to, know that I'm here. I'll always be here." He whispered the last part.

If only, if only you could be there when I needed you the most, Dylan. If only.

Before I know, my eyes had started to stung way too much and my body starts to shake as the tears started to flood out once again. I've never cried this much before.

I felt his arm wrap around my waist and soon enough, he bent down and placed his cheek on my head.

Just like that, he held me as I kept involuntarily bawling my eyes out.

Just like that, he held me till everything around me turned black.

Just like that, he held me till everything drifted apart into the numbness of the oblivion sleep brought.

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**So, I wasn't expecting to update this this soon, but thanks to snow, lovely lovely snow, school was canceled for tomorrow. I've never been happier! **

**But anyways, I wanted to ask you readers a very (well maybe not that very) important question. **

**We ALL know that Dylan and Aria are going to get romantic together (surprise surprise). So, I wanted to ask you all, should I keep suspending there 'romance' to take my time writing there feelings developing for each other, or do you all just want me to skip right to it. **

**Like, I just wonder sometimes, am I dragging this on wayyy too much?**

**Please review and PM me to share what you think of the situation. I SERIOUSLY NEED YOUR ANSWERS FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**Thanks! Love you all!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi! Thanks to all of you that reviewed about my question in the previous chapter! According to most of them, I think it would be the best to wait a bit before making them romantic all of a sudden. And that was originally my plan because I really wanted to reveal their developing feelings before starting the actual romance. But it was good to see that my readers thought that the same thing so I guess we'll get right to the next chapter.**

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The ray of sunshine seeping in through my open window was blinding as it forced me to open my eyes. Tossing and turning, I finally managed to sit up, groaning due to some throbbing pain in my head. I grabbed a handful of my hair by the temples and just clutched at them as my head dropped down low.

"I see you're up." I heard that morning voice of his.

I looked up to find him leaning on my door with his arms crossed. He was still wearing the clothes from the party, although they were now slightly wrinkled and more of the buttons were opened from the top. His golden hair were still in their own glory despite the fact that they were messy now.

And if I was in the mood to reveal my unwanted thoughts, I would gladly say that he looked, well you know, hot.

"Enjoy what you see?" He cocked that smirk of his, revealing pearls the color of perfect white.

I blinked and looked away, "Shut up." I groaned as I was reminded of the terrible pain in my head. "What are you doing here at this time anyways?"

"I've been here since last night." He said, walking over and lazily dropping down on the red bean bag. "I sort of fell asleep while you..."

He left the sentence hanging and I, for some odd reason, blushed and turned away from him again. I felt numb right now, and I could only make out bits of what happened last night. But unfortunately, the bits that I did remember, I wished I didn't.

But the one thing that really was making my cheeks burn was the thought of having Dylan sleep in the same bed as I.

Oh God.

"We're gonna be late for school, Imma go get ready." I muttered and stood up and made my way towards the closet to take out my clothes.

"Its Sunday, sweetheart." I heard him from behind me. Damn, the way that sounds in his morning voice.

I know, I know what I'm saying here. I don't get it either.

"Well then, I guess I'll go get ready for...that meeting I have with my...mom.." I lied, trying to come up with an excuse to get away from his intense gaze that was fixated on me.

"You don't have any meeting." He shook his head. "Especially not with your own mom."

"Um, yes, I do. And I need to get ready for it. So leave." I said, turning back to the closet and making a mess of clothes.

He gasped, jokingly. "Are you trying to get rid of me?" He placed a hand on his chest. "Of your loving, caring, totally charming boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes and launched a pillow at him, which he caught perfectly while flashing a grin.

"You're not my boyfriend." I shook my head, as I took out my black jeggings and my red flowery sweater.

"Uh, yes, I am." He said. "According to J-14 teen magazine." He then held up one of those magazines that I always found crazy fan girls reading.

Instead of the cover being filled with the faces of One Direction or Justin Beiber or Selena Gomez, there was a picture of us making our way to school, hand in hand.

My jaws dropped as I sprinted over and snapped the magazine from his hands. I flipped through the page that we were on and saw a ton of sneaky pics that were taken of us on the school campus.

Things like, "Looks like Dylan Sprouse has found his special someone!" and "Awe! Look at these love birds!" were flooding the pages. They, some spy or whatever, had even captured the time Dylan had almost kissed me on the lips while aiming for my cheek. But in the picture, from the angle that it was taken in, it clearly looked like we were kissing.

I blushed at the thought of it and held the magazine higher to hide it from his sight, that was bent on making me its one and only focus.

Man, I've blushed today more than I ever had in an entire year.

"See? I told you, it would all work out." He smiled up at me.

I guess it had, because like the previous time, the media hadn't given me a negative image. It was actually way much more positive then need be. I almost puked at their cheesy language.

But at least, I wasn't portrayed as a bitch or slut anymore.

"Ugh, this is too..." I made a face and tried to find a word for it.

"Sappy?" Dylan spoke for me. "I know, but at least it made us seem like a star couple."

"I don't want all that attention, Dylan." I threw the magazine back in his lap and went back to the closet.

"Come on, it won't be that bad, I promise." He said.

"I don't know," I sighed. People all over the country would be reading about me, there will be pictures flooded everywhere, who knows, maybe they would ask to interview me later or something. Shit.

"But still, I told you my plan would work, here's the proof, I win, now pay up." He said, smacking the magazine on the little table that was set in the middle of the two red bean bags.

"Pay up?" I turned back to him with squinted eyes. "We never had a bet!"

"Too bad, I made it up in my mind, you have to pay up now." He shrugged, flashing that look of evilness that he possessed.

This was Dylan. Dylan Sprouse. The Dylan Sprouse that I knew. The one that was the most stubborn person I had ever met. He always did what he said, and got what he wished. There was no point fighting a battle against that.

So I sighed, giving up. "Fine, what?"

For a mere second, something flashed through his eyes, a twinkle, a sparkle of...I don't know, something unreadable. Something I had never seen before in those steel pupils. He gazed into my eyes for a few more seconds before finally speaking.

"Come with me to IHOP for breakfast." He said, smirking.

Woah, that was it?

By that strange look he had, I thought he had something very vicious planned but this wasn't really that...bad. I guess.

"That's it?" I questioned and he raised his eyebrow.

"You're actually gonna go without protesting? Seriously?"

I blinked. "Yeah. I could use some good breakfast."

"Ok then, m'lil Ar Ar." He stood up. "I'll be back after changing." He winked before heading towards the door.

"Don't call me that."

He just chuckled and left.

My lil Ar Ar.

I actually chuckled to myself.

How the fuck do you even get that from 'Aria'?

I ended up laughing alone in my own room.

Gosh, this guy.

...

"What?" I asked.

"What?" He asked.

"You've been staring at me for the past ten minutes! Are you gonna tell me what's going on?" I placed my fork down on my plate of pancakes.

"Nothing." He shook his head. But then, looked away thinking.

I sighed and leaned back.

"Dylan, if something is disturbing you, why don't you just say it?" I puffed.

He looked down at his plate and then out the window. He opened his mouth and closed it again.

"Aria," He hesitated. "I guess the whole magazine thing had made you forget everything but the image of you crying your eyes out last night keeps flashing into my mind and-I don't know-I just feel restless because of you keeping whatever it is from me." He rambled.

And just like that, I felt a burning knife stab me right in the heart.

Dylan had done a pretty amazing job at making me divert my mind from the events of last night and I wanted to keep it that way. But, who was I kidding? I couldn't just avoid it forever. Especially not when it had happened less than twenty-four hours ago.

Although, I would say, laughing our asses off while making fun of Kenna and her puppies during the car ride had helped a lot. And I mean it when I say a lot.

"I just keep thinking," Dylan continued, dropping the fork on his plate as well. "Was it because of what I said about you and Eric? I just want you to know, I was mad and said whatever came out of my mouth without thinking. I never meant to hurt you enough to cry like that."

I stiffened at the mention of his name. It was as if I was allergic to even the sound of his name being pronounced. It was like a venom to me.

And I guess Dylan must have noticed that.

"Wait," He spoke and this time, he looked at me with his eyebrows furrowed. "Does this-does this have anything to do with Eric only?"

I winced inwardly again as he said his name. Soon his eyebrows pull apart and all the confusion is wiped away from his face. His expression is blank and I can't see any sort of emotion on his face as he glares at me through narrowed eyes.

"It does, doesn't it?" His voice sounded stern as if he was holding from yelling. "Why would you keep that from me?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I suddenly felt like puking the delicious pancakes I had just eaten.

"What did he do?" Dylan asked in a demanding tone. His voice was dripping with the upcoming anger.

The memory flashed back, all of it, and I didn't know how I was supposed to put it in words. Just the thought of it made me want to cry, then how was I supposed to relive that memory in order to describe it in words?

"Aria?"

I blinked the stinginess in my eyes and looked at him, opening my mouth once again.

"Dylan-I-I" I stammered. How the fuck do I even say it? Eric nearly raped me?

My body had gotten abused by someone's filthy hands?

How?

"It was..I.." I kept stuttering. After a while, Dylan let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. His blank expression was hard to read and I had no idea what on earth was going on around in his mind.

I sighed too, and sat up straighter.

"Dylan, I-I'm just not ready to talk about it yet. It's too hard and too fresh for me. Please, just give me some time." I spoke, trying to find a way to convince him.

His eyes, the ones that now had a slight hue of striking yellow in them due to the sun ray, shot right into mine and for a second, he didn't say anything. Just stared at me. That odd look that he had earlier today appeared back and for some reason, I couldn't get myself to look away either. Usually I would, but apparently not today.

I had never noticed the tiny black spikes inside of those grey pupils.

Maybe because, they had never pierced into my eyes this hard before.

Whatever trance it was that we had gotten in, vanished as the waiter came over to us.

"Do you need anything else, sir?" He asked Dylan, forcing him to finally tear his eyes away from mine.

He shook his head after looking at my direction. I didn't even want to finish the pancakes I was so eager to devour before. Rather, i just wanted to throw up everything from my stomach.

"No, that's fine. You can bring the bill." He answered, the waiter nodded and took our plates away and cleaned the table.

After our very much ruined breakfast, Dylan decided to take a day off from work and suggested that we should just spend the day together in order to get our minds off of things for a while.

I was surprised at how fast his angered mood had changed to happy one but I soon let that pass. Let him ignore all the problems, just like I had been trying to.

I needed to get my mind off of things anyways.

First, we went to the mall and just hung out, going from store to store and not really buying anything. We did, however, spent a good amount of time at the food court and the arcade.

We had gotten into a pretty harsh game of air hockey. I won though. But I'm pretty sure he let me win on purpose, but I don't wanna think about that.

After wasting a good amount of time and money in the arcade, we decided to go watch a movie.

I know, it seems like a perfect date, but believe me, it wasn't a date.

We ended up choosing Annabelle and during the whole movie, we laughed as some people screamed in the theater. I loved how we shared the same sense of humor at times.

After watching the movie, and having our stomachs loaded with popcorn and soda, we decided to go relax at the beach. Well, it was more of his idea. He loved to go to the beach at night. I did too, especially after that night when we both escaped from the party to grab some subway.

But ever since...that...had happened, and that too on the beach side when it was dark outside, I felt a bit scared going back there, although I didn't say anything. I was too distracted right now to think about that again.

Or about how tomorrow was Monday.

"Hey, you know what? We should go closer." Dylan beamed, already taking a step further as both our hair blew in the cool ocean breeze.

I widened my eyes, "Towards the water? Aren't we already too close?"

Dylan squinted, "Wha- this is nothing! Come on!"

I felt a bit embarrassed to reveal to him that I didn't know how to swim and was terribly scared of the water, especially the endless water of the ocean, filled with it's many creatures.

"Dylan, I really don't think that we should-" He didn't let me finish as he grabbed both of my hands and led us closer to the water, him walking backwards in front of me.

I hesitated at first but soon let him lead me closer and closer until our feet hit the cold, icy water. It didn't feel that bad, quite nice and calming actually.

I smiled down as it felt like the cool water was tickling my feet and how the wet sand below provided a comfortable surface to stand up on.

"See? It's not that scary." I looked up to see Dylan smile as well.

"It will be for me if you let go of my hands." I informed, without thinking exactly what it was that I was saying. But that was the truth actually, because I'm pretty sure that if he let go, I would lose my balance and fall face first into the water before being floated away forever due to the force of it.

Point here is, I seriously am scared of the water.

A distant smile formed on his face as he looked at me, some of his hair blowing in his eyes due to the wind. I felt his hands tighten around mine, squeezing them.

They were cold before, but now, a sudden gush of warmth spread through out them and even up my arms, making it all feel tingly.

"I promise, I won't." He said, his voice sounding low enough to be a whisper since the waves of the ocean were roaring behind us.

I smiled again and feel being pulled. Dylan was smiling at me as he took more steps backwards. The smile suddenly vanished from my face being replaced by fear.

"Wh-what are you doing? We're close enough." I stammered.

"Believe me, the water feels better further up." There was no concern, no fear in his eyes. They were twinkling in the moonlight as his smile stayed perched upon his lips.

"But, I don't want to get that close, Dylan!" I protested. "I don't wanna drown and die at this age."

He chuckled. "I won't let that happen. I just need you to trust me."

The water level was rising at this point and it had reached above my ankles.

"Ok but that doesn't mean you have to take me this close towards the ocean! Plus its night time, if we get shored away, no one will be able to see or hear us." I rambled as I eyed the threatening waters as my hands squeezed his tighter.

"Aria, just calm down and enjoy the moment." He said as we abruptly came to a stop.

The water was almost up to our knees now and I was slightly shivering due to the cold breeze and the cold feel of the water on my skin.

"Now, I'm going to let go of your hands and move out of your way so you can see the ocean better and feel the wind coming from it." He said and let go of my hands, stepping aside from front of me.

I opened my mouth to protest but he had already let go of me and had moved somewhere behind me. Just as his figure moved away from the front of me, a strong, cold, gush of air hit my face. It was cold, it was quick, but it was very gentle...almost soft. It blew the locks of hair away from my face and made me close my eyes. And in that mere second, I felt like I could fly.

But that was only a mere second before the realization of standing so close to the water without anyone's support kicked in. I suddenly felt too scared to open my eyes. To see the endless amount of dark water in front of me that was causing such a roaring sound of waves.

Didn't Dylan promise to not let go of me?

Can't believe he already broke it.

Right as that thought occurred, it was proven wrong when I suddenly felt strong pair of arms engulf around my waist and pull me in.

"C'mon, open your eyes, look at the view." He spoke in my ear and I felt his arms tighten. "I still got you, don't worry."

I couldn't believe how fast my body calmed down at that. I felt my muscles relax under his touch and something inside me told me that I could trust him. So, with a deep breath, I opened my eyes.

I couldn't manage to breathe after that. The view, it was indescribable. I couldn't believe that I was so scared to look at this beauty before. It was as if I was on different world altogether.

The beauty of the mysterious water, looking like a sea of ink in the night sky, the constant crashing of the waves that sprayed water everywhere, the smooth sound of the ripples in the water's movement, it was all just so magical.

I smiled at the dark magnificence of the ocean from this close. It wasn't scary at all.

Not when I had someone by my side to keep an eye out for me.

"Its nice, isn't it?" His breath fanning my ear and neck was the only source of warmth in the middle of this chilly, breezy night. "I told you."

"Do you come here a lot?" I asked him.

"Only when I need to," He answered. "But I always come alone, it's funny how I managed to bring you here the second time now. Feel special, m'lil Ar Ar."

I didn't care about the nickname. It was becoming a habit.

"Yeah?" I questioned, just to make sure.

"Yeah." He answered, smiling as we both turned towards the ocean again.

Right now, in this moment, I didn't care about all the shit that was waiting for me back home, or at school tomorrow. I felt relaxed, I felt happy now, now when for the first time, I wasn't questioning everything wrong in my life. I wasn't used to this feeling, to this level of contentment, but I could definitely use it and take its advantage at this moment.

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**So, I can't believe that I had another day off from school! **

**Did I tell y'all how much I love the snow?**

**Anyways, what'ya think about this chapter?**

**I had gotten a breif writer's block in the middle of it which is why it took me longer to update this then usual, but, with high hopes and fingers crossed, here it is!**

**Review and let me know what you think! **

**Thanks! Love You ALLLLLL! :***


	17. Chapter 17

**A VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END, PLEASE READ!**

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My heart was racing and the pit of my stomach was churning due to the sickness I was feeling as I brushed my hair. In only thirty minutes, I would be making my way to my history class, the one that I shared with that monster. I didn't know how I was going to handle the situation. I can't bare to even look at Eric without weakening down and wanting to scream my heart out.

Plus, no one knew about what had happened. If Eric suddenly decided to get revenge, who would notice and come for help?

Gosh, I had put myself in this pathetic position. No one else was to blame here but me.

After, I had fixed my hair, letting them cascade down my back in loose waves on top of my dark blue, shoulder-studded sweater, I took a deep breath and slung my bag over my shoulder and exited the safety of my room.

I hadn't even eaten anything yet I felt like puking.

I climbed down the stairs just in time to hear a honk come from outside. It signaled that Dylan was here so I said goodbye to my mom and exited the house.

I joined him in the car and he greeted me with a smile, not a smirk, which was totally out of the norm. But, nevertheless, we had actually gotten a good talk during our ride and that helped me stabilize myself a little.

I was starting to feel more and more comfortable with him nowadays, despite the fact that we had had a fight. But I had put that behind me, no point in hanging on to the past anyways.

It was just that, even though he could be excessively annoying and rather stubborn at times, I would be lying if I told you that having him in my life was just another problem.

And especially after yesterday, its starting to feel like he's the only positive thing around for me.

When we arrived to school, we went through our normal routine of hand-holding and cheek-kissing act to keep up with our plan. I was annoyed at first, but now, as time had passed, I was starting to get used to the whole idea of being romantic in front of the public.

Though I would say, I absolutely despised how I had to struggle to hide constant blushes that would appear on my cheeks from time to time.

I already knew that Dylan was starting to have an effect on me, but I refused to believe it.

It's weird, I know. But I just wasn't ready to accept that fact.

After dropping me to my locker, Dylan had left to catch up with his friends and I left to go cut some time at the cafeteria with Alice and two other girls I knew from my math class. We had fifteen minutes to spare and I used up most of them fiddling with my phone as Alice busied herself with piles of bagels from the school cafeteria.

"Alice, slow down!" I told her as I noticed some of her food was falling out her too-filled mouth.

She didn't say anything as she stared some where past me with a quizzical look in her smoky eyes.

"Alice?" I tried to get her attention. When she didn't listen, I leaned over and waved my hand in front of her. She blinked away and turned to me, her mouth hanging due to the loads of bagels stuffed inside.

"Is it just me, or is Eric Daniels staring over at our direction?" She spoke through a muffled mouth and I could only make out a few words.

I felt my body stiffen up at the mention of his name as my heart rate picked up.

"Where?" I whispered, "Is he staring at me?"

Alice looked past me again and nodded slightly, still trying to chew her food.

"I think so." She muffled through the food. "Hey, why is there a big purple bruise by his forehead?" She then asked and I stood up, not wanting to sit within Eric's line of vision anymore.

"Where are you going?" Alice asked, surprised at my sudden action.

"I-I have to go."

"But-"

"I'll see you at lunch." With that, I turned towards the cafeteria doors and exited without another word or glance.

No way was I ready to face him this early.

Since I still had time left before the bell rang, I went to the front office and asked my counselor to change my History class. After a rather long conversation, I finally managed to convince her and she informed me that she would do it by next class and that until then, I had to go to my current one.

I couldn't push her any further so, praying on my way, I strolled to my history class, making sure to take as much time as possible.

When I entered, I was about ten minutes late and Mr. Green had ended up giving me detention for Wednesday after school. No words can describe how relieved I was when I saw that Eric wasn't in the classroom. I had never been so happier.

I wondered why he hadn't shown up. I was thinking the entire time that he was going to bully and threaten me for hurting him.

All I need to do now was somehow make it to the end of the day without running into him.

Deep breaths, Aria. You got this.

After Creative Writing, which went oddly well since Bree actually came up to me and apologized and things went back to normal between us, I made my way to my locker after saying goodbye to her and waited for Dylan. He had asked me to meet him here this morning before he left.

I waited and waited but he never showed up.

When about half of the lunch had passed with me pacing back and forth waiting for him, I gave up and decided to go back to the cafeteria where Alice and Bree were waiting for me.

I had just turned the corner when I saw two police officers walking down from the other side of the hallway. I wondered why they were here, although I recognized the school officer, Ms. Cuppet, the one who always gave me detentions.

As we came close enough, I could make out that the cops had a student hand cuffed and were taking him down somewhere. I guess there had been an incident. Its surprising since I haven't heard people talk about anything.

As our distances closed, I looked to see who the student behind the officers was. And that's when I froze right in the middle of my tracks as I saw that the guy behind the officers, the one that had his hands cuffed behind his back and the side of his head bleeding was none other than Dylan himself.

Passing by, his eyes had dropped over towards my direction and I couldn't find anything in them. His face was red, as if he was holding in an explosion from erupting within him. He looked enraged, he looked dangerous. Our eyes stayed on each other up until the officers had turned the corner and took him with them, leaving me alone in the hallway, freaked way out of my mind.

Why was Dylan cuffed? Why was he getting arrested? And most importantly, why was there blood trailing down from his head to chin?

What could he possibly do to get into this much trouble?

My heart was restless and I felt the urge to go after them, and I did. I ran over to the direction they had gone in and exited the school building just in time to see them drive away in the police car. I stood there, in the chilly morning, just looking at the car as it disappeared down the road. I looked around and was about to leave when I spotted an ambulance over to the other side of the school building. I squinted my eyes but even then I could only make out a couple of paramedics loading a guy, rather bloody body of a guy, on a stretcher. I tried my best, but still couldn't see who the guy was.

This was all just so out of nowhere. I was confused beyond belief and had no idea what to do or who to go to. The person that I relied upon the most when it came to school life had just gotten arrested and I keep feeling that it all had something to do with the injured guy that has just been loaded inthe ambulance.

I remained outside as the soaring alarm of the ambulance soon passed by me and disappeared down the road as well. Some teachers, who were there, noticed me and one of them immediately commanded me to leave and go back to class.

I unwillingly went back inside and somehow managed to drag my feet to the cafeteria.

I was worried, no, I was freaking out for whatever was gonna happen to Dylan. I mean, that wound on his head, it looked pretty bad and plus getting arrested is not something you can blink away with a careless eyes like detention. Plus he was a celebrity so that just made this whole situation that much worse.

I was agitated at this point. I wanted to punch the lockers on the either side of me to get all of it out but didn't because I knew that that would do nothing but just break my bones.

I just couldn't wrap my mind around this. What had suddenly happened out of nowhere? Dylan was fine, perfectly fine, in the morning, then how did he ended up getting arrested suddenly?

I reached the big doors of cafeteria and entered, being met with the roars of talking and laughing of the cafeteria. I looked around and saw that Bree was waving over for me to come to the table she was seated at with Cole and Alice.

I took a sigh of relief as I spotted the other twin and made a beeline for that table, nearly slipping as I plopped down on the seat.

"Woah, tiger. Slow down." Alice commented through full mouth of spaghetti.

I immediately turned to Cole.

"Do you know what's happening with Dylan?" I spoke, my voice coming out quick since I was slightly out of breath.

He raised his eyebrows and flashed a smirk that resembled a lot of that of his brother. "Yeah, he's crazy for you, am I right?" He joked, as the group giggled.

I shook my head and dismissed his statement.

"No, be serious. I just saw him being taken away by two police officers." I rambled. "He was also bleeding from his temple and he looked so angry and red for some reason and then I also saw an ambulanc-"

"Woah, woah, wait." Cole interrupted as I finally let myself breathe. "What do you mean arrested?"

His eyes had widened and he was intently looking at me, waiting for an answer.

"I was walking down the hallway when I saw him. He had his hands cuffed behind his back and Officer Cuppet and this other officer were taking him somewhere. I think they took him to the police station and I don't know, I'm freaking out. Does anyone know whats happening?" I rattled and Bree and Alice tried to calm me down as Cole tried to process everything in his mind.

Concern and worry was present on every corner of his face and he had longed abandoned his food.

I tried to calm down but failed.

Cole then turned to me and opened his mouth, but before any words could come out, his phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket.

"It's my dad." He informed us, looking down at the screen as he stood up. "Its too loud here, I'll be back."

With that, he pressed the phone to his ear and made his way out the cafeteria.

Bree turned to me.

"Did you say he was bleeding?" She asked.

I nodded. "Th-there was blood dripping down from his temple down to his chin."

I didn't know why I was stammering right now, but it was just the thought of all that blood...God.

Alice then grabbed our attention. "I bet you that he had gotten in a fight. That's all that the blood signifies."

"How can you be sure?" Bree questioned.

"Well, what else do you think could have caused injuries like that in the middle of a school day?" Alice questioned back.

"Oh yeah, true." Bree nodded, coming to the realization.

"But who could Dylan have a fight with? And that too big enough to get arrested?" I commented.

"I don't know." Bree muttered. "I've known the twins for a while but I can't think of one person that they are enemies with."

With that, silence seeped between us as we lost ourselves in our own thoughts.

I think there's a migraine coming in for me.

Just once, once can I have a normal, problem-free day?

After a few seconds or so, Cole finally came back and sat down. He seemed tensed and we asked him what his dad had said.

"He got arrested for beating up a guy at school." Cole informed us. "Dad was in a hurry so that's all he told me. He's going over to bail him out right now."

"Maybe that was the guy I saw the ambulance take away." I spoke. That could only make the most sense. I shivered at the thought of Dylan beating up the guy that bad to bleed like that. I mean, I could make out the blood all the way from where I was standing.

How could Dylan even do that? Where do you get the heart to hurt someone that bad?

"Don't worry, Cole. Everything's gonna be ok." Bree was comforting a rather tensed Cole as I just sat there and stared at the two.

Soon enough, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Students started throwing their trash away and making their way out the cafeteria. Cole, Alice and Bree stood up as well, but I remained seated.

"Aria?" Bree called to me. "Are you coming?"

I didn't look up from where my gaze was fixated on the tiled floor. "Yeah, just give me a minute." I nodded and they soon left.

Going to class was the last thing on my mind right now. Fuck that, it wasn't on my mind at all. Not when all I could think of was the way Dylan had looked at me when we crossed paths in the hallway.

It was all just so confusing and it was all happening so fast that I didn't know what to do.

I sat there, in the lonely cafeteria for a bit more long before finally dragging my feet to whatever class that I had next.

...

When I returned home, all I did was stare outside my window towards Dylan's house next door. His car was still back at school, but his dad's and Cole's car was missing too.

Apparently, it was taking a long time to bail him out while I, on the other hand, felt like ripping my hair out. I couldn't wait for long. I had so many questions but no answers.

On top of that, I was furious at Dylan. I'm pretty sure that whatever problem he had with the guy he had sent to the hospital so mercilessly, could've been handled a different way. But who would explain that to him? He never listen to anyone and now, he was tasting the fruit of his own deeds.

I should be happy right now, Dylan got what he deserved, but I wasn't. I was no where near to being happy or at being at ease. I kept worrying about how all this was going to affect his social life, especially his career and just the flashback image

* * *

of his bleeding head made me wince internally.

So, I sat there, on the seat attached to my window sill, staring out towards the Sprouse backyard till I accidentally fell asleep. How I could do that with all the shit running in my mind, I didn't know.

I woke up a few minutes after as I heard a park drive in and park. My eyes jolted open and I saw that a white Mistsubushi had just turned into the drive way as seconds after, Cole stepped out, looking rather tired.

There was no one else with him.

Without even knowing what I was doing, I screamed his name and he looked up. I gave him a signal that I was coming and then ran down all the way there.

Huffing and puffing, and only with my socks, I finally reached him and asked what had happened and where was Dylan and his dad.

"They, um, they're keeping him in the cell for a day. Dad is still talking them out of it but, I don't think anything is going to work." He replied, not matching eyes with me.

"Do you know who was the guy that he beat up though?" I asked, my heart racing.

"Eric. Eric Daniels. You know him?" He looked at me as I froze.

No.

No.

Shit, he didn't.

He can't.

But he did.

Oh God...

"Aria?" Cole asked.

I blinked away the trance and looked at him, but all I could do was nod.

"Yeah, well he and Dylan got into a pretty ugly fight. Eric got quite a number of injuries and has to stay in the hospital for at least a month. His parents were furious and that's why the police isn't bailing Dylan out right away, despite the fact that Dad was willing to pay any price." Cole informed me, fiddling with his fingers.

"D-do you know why the fight started?" I choked out the words. Did Dylan find out? If so, how?

Cole took a deep breath, "That's another reason why they're keeping him for today." Cole shook his head. "I don't know what has gotten into him. He was literally red in the face due to holding in anger. He refused to answer any questions, especially what had caused him to beat Eric so severely. He isn't saying anything, anything at all. And that's what really worries me. Dylan isn't like that. I know my brother."

He then rubbed his eyes and i noticed just how tired out and tensed he was.

"I hope that all of this gets better though." I muttered. "Are visitors allowed?"

I needed to talk to Dylan, and I needed to talk to him right now.

"Yeah, but I don't know if they'll allow any today but you can try." Cole said and gave me the address of the police station.

For a minute, silence seeped between us as we both lost ourselves in our own thoughts.

"Is-Is he alright though?" I stuttered. "His head..."

"He got a couple of stitches and he's fine now. Its just his odd behavior that's troubling everyone." Cole answered, running a hand through his hand.

At the mention of his odd behavior, the image of Dylan being taken away as he gave me that look flashed into my mind, giving me chills.

I had never seen such danger and anger in anyone's eyes, let alone Dylan.

"Aria?" Cole interrupted my thoughts as his grey eyes turned to me. They reminded me so much of Dylan's. "I really think that you should talk to him. I don't know...I just feel like...he might tell you what's going on." He shifted on his feet as he eagerly looked at me.

"Don't worry, I will." I answered, nodding. "Cole, everything's going to be OK."

He nodded, hesitatingly. "I hope so."

After that, we both said our farewells and went our separate ways home.

* * *

**_Dear all my amazing readers that I love so much, _**

**_It's because of you all and your support that encouraged me to keep up with this story. Usually, my works of writing barely last more than two chapters so this is a big jump for me, thanks to you all. _**

**_I honestly will say, I am proud of all the work that I've done. Some, I've done for me, some for you, but all of it was done from my heart. _**

**_With that said, I would like to say that it will truly break my heart if this story got deleted. _**

**_Why am I saying that?_**

**_Well, I got this email this evening and it has scared the living fuck out of me, _**

Review: Critics United (Guest)

Real person stories (aka stories that have the actors not the characters) are not allowed on FFN as per the ToS that you signed before starting the story. If your story is reported (it has been) then the story and your FFN account could be deleted.

_**Ok, for realllllll, THE FUCK?**_

_**If this is real, and if they do delete my story, then I advise all you readers to go to wattpad and find me there, (I will make an account with the same username with Dylan's Sprouse's pics and the story name will be the same as well). **_

**_I have never been this sad in my life before. I'm only fourteen and absolutely love writing and for the first time ever, my work had gotten noticed and now this happens. _**

**_Anyone out there know if this is true or am I just being joked around with?_**

**_If this is a joke, then it ain't funny and you need to get a life. _**

**_And if it isn't, then oh well, it will be your loss Fanfiction. _**

**_Gosh, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore, and I'm sorry if this chapter seemed a bit...fastened and distracted. I couldn't really focus after seeing the review, which was right in the middle of me writing this. _**

**_I originally meant to make this chapter super long but I'm deciding to cut it out here and if you all hate it, I guess I'll rewrite it but as of now, I'm really troubled with the fact that someone has reported my story. :(_**

**_That's all I have to say for now, _**

**_Thanks for sticking up with my story. _**

**_It really means a lot. _**

**_Thank you all so much!_**

**_Pm me if you plan on reading my story on Wattpad if it does get deleted here. I would like to give more info through that. _**

**_LOADS OF LOVE, _**

**_a troubled author_**

**_PS: I just checked it, my account username will be lovesickbabe28. on Wattpad_**


	18. Chapter 18

**Sooo, my account still hasn't gotten deleted yet, and I hope that it stays that way! I really am thankful to all those dedicated readers who are sticking with me, thanks, you all truly make my day. **

**Anyways, this chapter is going to be very...eventful. And it was definitely hard to write. That is why I don't have high hopes towards it and might edit later, but that all depends on what you all think so please remember to leave your honest feedback! **

**Hope you enjoy~**

Despite the fact that I come from a military family, I will say, I have never stepped a foot in legal authoritative places like a police station. Especially not one as big as the Los Angeles Police Department. Cole and Bree had come along with me but they refused to join me with Dylan, saying that it would be better if I talked to him alone. I didn't fight too much about it, I actually did need to talk to him privately.

The lady officer in front of me that I was following, guided me over to a cell and unlocked the bars for me. She opened it and turned to me, her eyes blank and ghastly.

"You have ten minutes, miss." She informed me with a dull voice and waited for me to step in. As I hesitatingly did, she slammed the bar doors shut, unlocked it and then soon left. Guess someone hadn't had any happiness in their life.

I turned back and gazed around the dark cell. The walls were dirty color of grey and it only had one single lamp hanging down in the middle. My eyes stopped at the corner and I saw that Dylan was sitting on the floor. His elbows were perched upon his knees and his head was hanging low. I gulped. I've never seen such a terrifying and dark side of anyone, let alone a sixteen-year old guy who worked for kid's TV show.

Had he even realized my presence? Why wasn't he looking up? What has gotten into him all of a sudden?

With my heart pounding faster than the speed of light, I took a few steps over and bent down next to him. He still wasn't moving, maybe he had dozed off? My hand was shaking uncontrollably as I reached over and placed it on his shoulder.

"Dylan?" My voice was low, barely audible. I waited for him to look up, but he didn't. He stayed frozen in that position. Cole had said that Dylan had never acted this way before, well, he sure as hell was right. I mean, _I'm_ scared of Dylan right now. I still can't forget the angered look he had given me yesterday in the hallway.

"Dylan?" I tried again and this time, his back heaved up and down as he took a deep breath and finally leaned his head up. The left side of his head had a white bandage taped to it and his eyes had a slight hue of red in them, either with anger or lack of sleep, I couldn't tell.

He leaned his head all the way back on the gray wall and looked up as his adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed. For a second, his eyes were fixated on the dangling lamp above us but then, they turned to me. They were cold, yet they had something else in them that I couldn't comprehend.

"Aria," He spoke, his voice being muffled, making it seem like he was trying his best not to yell right now. "What are you doing here?"

Ok, I can't believe this. Why was he making it seem like he was mad at me and was struggling to keep himself from bursting into rage? What had I even done?

"What do you mean what am I doing here?" I questioned as my fear vanished. It had the second I had looked into those grey eyes. No matter what, I knew that he wouldn't ever hurt me. Not even when he was in this state. "What are you? Who gets arrested at this age for beating a guy up so bad?"

He slightly shook with anger as he breathed out through his nose, keeping his jaws clenched tight enough to worry me that he might break his teeth. "A guy? He wasn't just a guy, Aria! He is a fucking bastard who was just begging to get his ass kicked!" He snapped and then, in a sudden moment, got up and walked over to the bars, looking away from me. I stood up as well.

"Why are you yelling, Dylan?! What has gotten in to you?! Why are you still mad?!" I blurted all those questions that I had been dying to find answers to. "Everything was fine yesterday then what happe-"

"Nothing is fine, Aria!" He growled, turning back to me with that fierce look. The fire in his eyes was raging, and it was spreading everywhere. "How could you hide such a thing from me? How could you just let something like that go?!" He demanded, taking slow steps towards me as I took some back, afraid of exactly what he was about to do.

"K-keep what Dy-Dylan?" I stammered, playing dumb, How could he possibly find out? I didn't tell him and it wouldn't make sense for Eric to tell him either.

"That that fucking prick layed his fucking hands on you and tried to-!" He yelled but didn't finish his sentence. His eyes were glowing with anger and he growled and punched the wall behind him hard enough to produce a sound. I jumped back at the sudden action of his. To say that I was scared yet again, would be an understatement. I was freaking out. I had never seen this side of Dylan before. Hell, I haven't seen this side of anyone before. I wasn't used to it, I had no idea how to handle a person this enraged.

And I had never expected the violation done to my body to be the reason behind it.

Dylan cursed under his breath as he massaged his wrist, his eyes tightly closed together. I opened my mouth to say something but my bottom lip quivered as my eyes stung and nothing came out. He was hurting himself because of me. Why was he going to such extents? Even my own father wouldn't take such dangerous actions if he were ever to find out about what had happened.

Dylan turned towards the opposite wall and leaned on it with his forehead, his hands going up to the either side of him to support the balance. He was quite for a while and I could hear his fastened breaths calming down slowly, much to my relief.

"Dylan," My voice shook as I tried to keep myself from flooding a dam of tears. "I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't know how to explain all that in words, I was afraid. I never meant for you to get hurt like this."

He then smirked, but unlike in a normal situation, it had no humor placed in it. "You know what hurt me the most, Aria?" He turned his body back to face mine. His eyes were no more filled with fury, they were twinkling in the dim light now as he still had that painful smirk placed upon his lips. "To find all of this out by overhearing Eric telling his buddies how much fun he had doing you outside on his porch instead of you coming to me and telling me the truth."

Pure venom dipped from his tongue as he said those words. My already stinging eyes widened as my mouth dropped. How-how could he...?

I started to shake my head violently, as tears finally escaped themselves from the grasp of my eyes. "N-no!" I choked, my voice barely making any pickable sound. "No-nothing li-i-ke that hap-ppened." The warm tears overflowing my eyes made my cheeks even warmer than they were before.

"I know, I know it didn't." Dylan spoke, no more yelling as he walked up and grabbed me by both of my elbows. "But that doesn't mean that nothing happened that night. Aria, look at me and tell me exactly what had happened. Why would you even hide it from me in the first place? Why didn't you answer when I asked you why you were crying?"

'Why?" I suddenly felt outraged as I slipped out of his grip. "Why didn't I? How could I when you yourself accused me of kissing him and going after him? How could I when you already had such a bad image of us two? Dylan, how could I when you didn't even give me the chance to explain the first time around?"

His furrowed eyes loosened up as he looked away, guilt flashing through his face.

"You're yelling at me right now but do you even know how helpless and used I felt at that moment? You're always around me, trying to help me but then, where did you suddenly vanish when I needed you the most?" I continued, not holding the power to keep all my emotions in any longer. "Besides, I wasn't able to repeat that moment again, especially not in front of you."

His avoiding gaze suddenly returned to mine and he took a step closer.

"That's what I don't want, Aria." He exclaimed. "I don't want this..this distance between us." He then surprised me by cupping my face and bringing it closer to his. "I want you to be able to share anything with me. I want you to be comfortable around me. I don't want you to make me just a small portion of your life, Aria. And I definitely want us to be-" He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes looked back and forth at mine, sense of realization dawning on them. I wasn't breathing anymore, not when I was so close to him. This started to feel like one of those dreams I had of him, and strangely, this time, I didn't want it to end.

"Us to be what, Dylan?" I uttered while he looked intently at me. His gaze that was so interlocked with mine suddenly dropped down to my lips and then back up again, making my skin burn to extremes. The glimmer in his eyes that was so present these days returned and before I could even think of another thing, he leaned in and pushed his lips onto mine. I completely loss control of my body as I felt the urgent movement of his lips against mine. It was too much to process all at once and just as fast as it had started, it ended.

Dylan quickly withdrew and jumped a few steps back, his face had a horrifying look plastered on it and his grey eyes were widened to the extent. While, I on the other hand, stood there like a frozen statue, not possessing any stremgth to even move a muscle.

"I-I-I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that," Dylan blurrted, his voice muffling due to his fast breaths. He ran a sudden hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what had gotten into me-"

He was interrupted by a loud banging on the bar doors. We looked over to see the lady officer from earlier, the one who had dropped me off here. She looked between us with beady little eyes and unlocked the door.

"Your time is up, miss. You have to leave now." She opened the door and stepped back, waiting.

I quickly turned back to Dylan, who was clearly avoiding my gaze and constantly running his hand through his hair. No, I couldn't go now. I couldn't. I needed to know why he had just...

Kissed me.

"Dylan-" I started, but he broke in.

"Aria, you should leave." His voice was demanding and had no feelings in it whatsoever.

"But-" I hesitated and he turned towards the officer.

"Please take her away."

I shook my head, "Dylan! I n-need to talk-"

"Sorry, miss. You have to leave now." The lady exclaimed as she grabbed me by my arm and pulled me out.

"No, please! Just one more minute!" I begged as she closed the cell door and locked it.

"You have to go." She merely said and pulled me with her. I turned my head back towards the cell, Dylan had both his hands clutching on to the bars as he looked at me leave. I could only catch this longing in his eyes before the officer had pulled me around the corner and I could no longer see him. I stopped fighting and just let the lady take me wherever it was that she was taking me. My mind felt hazy right now and it seemed as time itself had slowed down.

Dylan, Dylan Sprouse had just ended up kissing me. A real kiss, that was not for a show or an act. That said so much, so much that I couldn't get myself to believe it. Did Dylan feel something towards me? If he didn't, he wouldn't have suddenly kissed me like that. But then again, if he did, he wouldn't have pushed me away like he did either.

"Aria!" Someone called my name as I looked up to find Cole and Bree rushing towards me. Seeing Cole, with all the similar looks he shared with his brother, just made me want to go running back to the cell. I am not going to admit that I was already missing him, but I will say that the idea of him being all alone in that dark cell while his head was injured wasn't really appealing to me either. I-I just didn't even know what I felt and wanted anymore.

Life has confused me far enough to make me want to scream till my throat turned sore.

"What happened? Did he say anything? You were in there for a long while so he must have!" Cole blabbered on as I just stood there, looking at him, my eyes feeling heavy. Bree must have noticed because she then placed a reassuring hand on Cole's shoulder and calmed him down.

"I think it's better if we talk about it later...and somewhere else." She stammered, then gave Cole an understanding look. Cole realized whatever she had meant by that and then nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, you're right. He will be bailed out by tomorrow anyways." He faked a smile and shrugged. "Come on, let's go home then, its been a long day."

Me and Bree both nodded as he led us out, Bree sticking by my side as if I was a child who needed to be taken care of.

And I did, I did desperately needed to be taken care of.

But just by a different person.

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**Remember to review!**

**:)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi! I know that there are a lot of people there (only guests tho) that keep reminding me that this story is going to be taken down soon and all I wanna say is that I have already committed the mistake. So I don't see any point in me taking down the story, guess I'm just waiting for FFN to do it for me. I seriously don't have the strength to press the delete button, I have put so much time and effort into this so I'll just have the site do it for me. **

**At least try to understand my position here. **

**Until then, I hope that all you fanfiction readers will enjoy Chapter 19!**

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_**Please follow my Wattpad account lovesickbabe28 to continue with the story if it gets deleted! Thanks!**_

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"Yeah, but you don't know that for sure."

"But try to understand, it makes the most sense!"

Alice and Bree were arguing about what the reason could be for Dylan beating up Eric out of nowhere so bad. They had started ever since the lunch period began while I just sat there, not uttering a word and just playing around with my food.

"Everyone knows that Dylan and Eric were friends! So what you're saying does not make any sense, Alice! There must be another reason." Bree exaggerated as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh my God, we all know that the only thing that would make sense is that-" Alice began her side of argument but I interrupted her, fed up of them nearly screaming at each other.

"Can you two please not?!" My voice had come out louder than intended. "I'm trying to forget about it but you two just keep rubbing it in my face!"

For a second, they both stared at me, not saying anything and just blinking with their eyes wide open. I sighed, closed my eyes and shook my head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell." I muttered and dropped my cheek on my hand as my elbow was perched upon the table.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright." Alice chimed then, smoothing a hand on my shoulder.

Bree uncomfortably squirmed in her seat and hesitatingly asked, "Aria, what did he say yesterday at the police station?" She kept fiddling with her hands as if she was scared of asking me that question. I didn't respond right away, instead I just looked at her. How could I respond? What was there to say? I had been thinking non-stop about it and replaying the entire conversation inside my head enough times to cause a throbbing headache. Everything seemed blurry, except the way he had cupped my face, excpet the way he had looked at me, excpet the way his lips had felt against mine...

Oh, and how could I forget? The way he had pushed me right away.

"Aria?" Bree's voice jumped me out of my thoughts.

Remembering her question, I sat up straighter in my seat and took a deep breath as both Alice and Bree looked intently at me, patiently waiting for their answer.

"H-He was just mad about...something that he heard Eric saying." I answered truthfully. Well, it wasn't the full truth but it wasn't an entire lie either. He did mention overhearing Eric say...that...about me.

I shivered at the thought. How could Eric go that far? Just who did he think he was? Whenever I thought about Eric actually saying those things about me to people, I didn't exactly felt bad about the state that he was in. But then again, no one really deserved that kind of treatment, not even human-disguised monsters like Eric. Did they?

"Well, what was it that he heard?" Alice questioned, her gaze fixed on me.

I felt myself turn hot as my throat went dry. "I-I don't know." I muttered and then stood up. "I have to go, I'll see you guys later."

I swiftly turned around and walked away, not wanting to be faced with all those questions. Bree had called after me but I ignored it as I exited the cafeteria, thankful that they didn't follow me here. I just wanted to be alone, to not face people for a few moments. I didn't know why, but recently, I've done a reasonable amount of running away from my problems. It all just seemed too much to handle at once, especially when I was all alone in this.

Well, not entirely alone, Dylan knew what was going on, but I didn't know where we stood at this point to even find the courage to go to him. He had gotten bailed out from the police this morning. It had taken a lot of money and effort on his Dad's part to release him this early when the Daniels insisted on keeping him in and also to keep media's mouth shut. That was the only reason why there weren't a lot of talking going around the school about the incident, barely anyone knew about it. But I doubt that it would remain like that once Eric returns.

Dylan wasn't going to be back at school for a week, since he had gotten suspended. This morning, when I was getting ready for school, I happened to look out my window right as a car parked into the Sprouse's driveway. It hadn't even come to a full stop when a still-furious looking Dylan had stormed out, slamming the door hard enough for the car to shake at its impact, and rushed in. He didn't come out after that. I was hoping that he would have at least called, at the most texted, me but he didn't. Since my window faced his, I had spent good number of minutes trying to determine if he was in his room or not, but it was a challenge since his curtains were drawn.

I knew that I wasn't going to get a ride to school for a few days, but I also knew that things weren't going to be the same between us either. And, with much strength, I will confess that knowing that hurt. A lot.

Over the course of days, I had gotten used to being around Dylan, of having him force me into things I would've never imagined myself doing, of seeing him rub his constant smirks in my face, of having him have his arm wrapped around my waist whenever we walked down the hallway, of having him...

God, I needed to stop. I needed a break from working my mind out this much. I needed to stop myself from thinking about him so much. Who knew what was going on in his mind right now? He's probably holed up in his room doing God knows what. I wonder if he was thinking about me, struggling all alone here at school, and in general, at life.

"Uh, Miss Evans!" I heard a feminine voice yell my name from behind me. Snapping out of my thoughts, I twirled around to find Officer Cuppet standing there, looking at me. Immediately, the vision of her taking a hand-cuffed Dylan to the police station flashed in my mind and I had to mentally scream at myself to divert my attention. I didn't want to think of it, that image. All it reminded me of was the fire in Dylan's eyes...and of course all the blood that was dripping from his head.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Why aren't you in class?" She placed her hands on her hips, giving me the look she always gave me right before giving me detention.

"Sorry, I was just-"

"Office, with me, right now." She snapped her fingers demadingly.

Man this lady was uptight about just skipping a simple class, how had she reacted upon seeing the possible condition Dylan and Eric were in during the fight?

I sighed and soon followed her throught the empty hallways. I didn't even know when lunch had ended and class had started. Gosh, my life.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

To say that I felt like a dull, miserable pice of shit right now would be an understatement. I felt worse, way worse but that was all mostly caused by the feeling of loneliness that seeped in from time to time since Dylan hadn't looked at me, let alone talked to me, during the entire week. I was surprised that I could feel so down by that. Before, I always wished to keep running away from him, and now, all I could think of was to run towards him.

What could I do? It felt like I had lost something very special and had nothing else to look after in life. And that says a lot since I'm talking about none other than Dylan Sprouse here.

Although he hadn't made any effort to contact me whatsoever in the past week, I would recall that we had had a few numbers of awkward, accidental encounters. First was the morning after he had returned. After waking up, I had dragged my feet to my window to withdraw the curtains so the sunlight could come in, but, it just so happened that he had done the same thing at that exact moment right across the lawn that separated the two houses. At the immediate contact of our gazes, we both just froze, our hands still clutching onto the partly withdrawn curtains. I don't remember for how long, but we stayed in that position for a while, just staring at each other through our windows before he suddenly snapped out of it and drew his curtains back together. Those curtains never came apart after that day.

Our second encounter was when I had stepped out the house to take the trash out the following evening. I hadn't realzed that Dylan was out in his driveway, leaning on his car as he stared at me up until I had turned back around towards my house. Our gazes locked once again, no one said anything, no one did anything, and the next thing I knew, Dylan had jumped into his car and had driven away.

I stood there, staring at the retrieving car, up until my mom had stepped out and called me in.

The third and the most recent, was when he returned to school the following monday. Turns out, the history class that I was transfered to from my old one was also the one that Dylan had. The class was set in three columns. Dylan sat all the way at the back, towards the left side. I was assigned the seat towards the far right one. One of the school's bitches, or should I say, one of Kenna's (and now Zoey's too) devoted worshippers, Stephanie was the one that sat in the middle, separating us.

And she did everything she could in her power to irritate the flying fuck out of me. When I had first walked in and my teacher had pointed at the seat I was assigned to, my eyes had roamed towards the back of the room and had caught Dylan's. This always happened. Whenever our gazes locked, they would stay that way for a while. A while that felt like centuries. Then, with just one look away from him, it would all break and shatter into a million pieces and I would be reminded of the rest of the world around me. I had meekly walked over to my seat and sat down. Stephanie, realizing that me, Dylan Sprouse's supposed-girlfriend, hadn't taken a second look towards my 'boyfriend' took her immediate chance at giving a victorious smirk at my direction and a flirtatious wink towards Dylan's.

During the whole class, it was no news that I couldn't focus on any shit that the teacher was blabbering about.

My leg kept shaking beneath the desk as I kept taking secret glances towards Dylan's direction. Beside the pink environment that was coming off of Stephanie, there was the dark, highly tensed aura that was shooting off from Dylan's. He was sitting, leaning on the desk with his elbows, stiff as a brick. He kept slamming the pencil between his index finger and thumb on the table and time by time, it got faster and more aggresive. Guess he had found a new way to take out his anger.

I didn't know why, but I felt the urge to just walk up to him, smack my hand on his to stop the pencil, and just yell at him, demanding for an answer. An answer to why he was doing all this. Why he was running away from me, why he was trying to take the exit doors out of my life when I had just started to get used to his presence in it.

But most of all, I wanted to yell at myself. Yell at myself, demanding an answer as to why I was letting all of this get to me. Why I was...I don't even know...hurting?

Dylan shot up from his seat and stormed out the class the second bell had rung. While I just sat there, looking in the direction he had walked away in.

Seeing him just take away like that, without even a simple glance towards me, made me realize, that indeed, I was hurting. The strange feeling that kept panging in my heart because of our recent behavior to each other was nothing else but pain.

I don't remember how I had managed to survive the rest of the day.

"So now you know what it feels like." Bree spoke, her eyes looking out my window at a far distance, lost in their own world.

I looked down at my coffee mug and nodded, "I do."

Bree had noticed the way that I was behaving these days and had come over to my house, commanding me to tell what was going on. I had given up on trying to hide it, I didn't posses the strength to bear it alone anymore so I invited her in, made some coffee and had joined her on my window seat.

I don't want to repeat the way I had explained that night to her. I'd rather get ran over by a truck than go through that torture again.

Everything had gotten quiet after I was done. We both knew what it had felt like, we both were trying to keep in our pain from showing.

"But I don't get one thing," Bree then suddenly chimed, looking at me with squinted eyes. "If Eric had done that, and Dylan beat him up for it, why isn't he talking to you though? You two have been avoiding each other for two weeks! What's all that about?"

I didn't say anything and just looked out the window, my eyes landing onto his window. The one that was still covered with curtains, shutting me out.

"I truthfully don't know." I said. "He was angry, still is, but I think maybe the kiss had something to do with it." I muttered, rather to myself, forgetting completely that there was another ear here.

"Whoa, hold up. What kiss?" Bree questioned, setting her mug down on the ground.

I sighed. Then began my story.

When I was done, Bree was quiet as she took in all of the information. She was currently chewing on her nails as she looked out towards the window. I just sat there, circling my finger on the top of the coffee mug, lost in my own thoughts, thoughts that only consisted of how he had suddenly out of nowhere kissed me like that.

"Only one thing can make sense in this situation," Bree thought out loud. I looked up at her, waiting. "And that would be that Dylan...likes you!" She perched up out of nowhere, her eyes widening, a cheeky smile forming, as she leaned right into my face, taking me by shock.

I blinked, "What?"

"What do you mean by what?" She nearly screamed. "It's obvious! He couldn't bare the fact that another guy had laid his hands on you and probably took that frustration out by kissing you! Which means that he was jealous, which then means that he really does like you!" She was nearly jumping on the seat by now as I stared at her in utter shock.

"Problem solved, I'm a genius." She then exclaimed, leaning back and patting her own shoulder.

"No, problem not solved." I finally found my voice. "That's stupid! Dylan does not like me."

Bree narrowed her eyes and looked at me, "How can you even believe that after getting kissed by him?" She then leaned in and grabbed my wrists. "How was it though? Was it really hot? Did you feel any butterflies flying around in your stomach? Did you-"

"Bree!" I shouted. "Nothing like that happened. He kissed me and then pushed me right away. He hasn't talked to me ever since! His eyes are always filled with fury whenever he looks at me! And all that says that he doesn't like me!"

Wow, I really need to calm my voice down before it ends up booming over towards the house next door. To him.

Bree simmered down and blinked at me, "But Aria, he did, by his own will, offered to help you when all the rumors spread. He did, by his own will, risked fake dating you with all the attention it came with. He did, by his own will, went to jail while fighting for your dignity and ended up hurt as well. All in all, Aria, he has been with you through it all, by his own will and choice. Not to mention, now that he has gone as far as kissing you, there's no doubt that he feels at least something towards you."

I froze in one place at those words. Even my breathing had stopped.

As much as I hate to admit those things, I knew that they were true. Dylan has done a lot to help me, even if it was something as stupid as fake-dating. And I never asked for his help. I always pushed him away, but he always somehow came back.

But now the tables have turned and its not me who is pushing away anymore.

Its him.

Does that mean that I should still keep running towards him, like he had done with me instead of giving up altogether?

"Aria?" Bree glanced at me with concerned eyes. I sighed and closed mine, burying them in my hands as I rubbed my forhead.

"I-I don't know, Bree. Even if what you're saying is true, it still does not explain why he's pushing me away. Pushing me so far away from him." I muttered.

"Well, that's something that you and him need to talk about." Bree commented. "And soon."

How was I to do that when even looking at him was a fight in itself?

"Yo!" We heard a yell come from out the window. Surprised, we leaned our heads out and looked down to find Cole standing there, looking up at us. He flashed us a grin. "Can we go to the cafe now?!"

Confused, I looked at Bree, who was grinning and shaking her head at him.

"Cole saw me coming to your house and insisted we go to the cafe together to get some alone time. I said no, but, you might know by now, the Sprouse twins are stubborn as hell." She explained as she stood up and threw her coat on.

A pang shot itself up in my heart at the mention of the one thing that I remembered him the most by, his clingy stuubornnes.

"Don't worry, Aria." Bree spoke. "You'll make it through this. And I'm here for you."

"Thanks." I managed a smile.

"PLEASE!" Cole yelled and I laughed at his desperateness.

"You should leave before he ends up climbing the window." I shook my head.

"I'm guessing Dylan has done that?" She raised her eyerows and all I could do was nod.

After that, Cole actually threatened to climb my window so I said goodbye to Bree and watched the two leave in Cole's car after he had waved over to me with a thank you. I waved back and smiled until they were in the car. The sun was setting by now and I knew that I had a shit ton of homework waiting for me. But all I did instead was, sat there and looked at the California sky above. Bree's words kept ringing inside my mind and my heart always skipped a beat at the thought of having Dylan feel something for me.

After a few minutes or so, I finally decided to get up and right as I did, I stopped as this odd feeling of being watched surged through my body. I whipped my head around fast enough to catch that his curtains had moved. The window was closed and I knew that it wasn't because of the wind.

Was he staring at me? Or was that just my imagination?

SOOO, Ugh today is monday. But anyways, after going through a bunch of family troubles, I finally got the chance to update!

I know this chapter isn't really that eventful but I needed to write about the stage Dylan and Aria are going through currently. Whether you liked it or not, remember to comment and give me your honest feedback!

Yes, I accept constructive crticism so go ahead if you like to do that :)

Anyways, I guess that's it. I would really appreciate votes/comments! It ma


	20. Chapter 20

**I have my fingers crossed for snow tomorrow. **

**Sorry for the wait, school got to me and I didn't get to work on my story a lot. But, thats why, to make up, this chapter is teh longest I've written for this story yet, and may I say, quiet...eventful. **

**Please COMMENT/VOTE/FOLLOW!**

**Thanks! Hope you enjoy~**

Never in my life had I ever been serious towards boys. Ever. After seeing so much of my friends go through the usual get-together and break-up routine countless times in their lives, I just gave up on trying to throw myself in that mess. I didn't have time or energy to be wasted on dealing with boys. Especially when I knew that high school relationships never last, no matter how heavenly they might seem at the moment.

It's better to keep yourself ready for the cruelties that reality brings rather than being totally blinded by the la la land of teen romance.

However, I will say, one time, when I was in sixth grade, this guy, who at the time was also my best friend, had asked me out a lot of times. I hated to say no to him but even after that, he stayed and didn't leave. He always remained the same afterwards and didn't complain too much about it. He didn't even ever confronted to me about why I kept rejecting him. He never gave up either.

But I was persistent on my opinion on dating, so eventually, he stopped trying and in no time, started dating this other girl and they soon became pretty serious. Well, as serious as you could get in elementary school. At first, I will say, I was hurt, not like down-right depressed type of hurt, but just disappointed. I had pushed him away enough times to end whatever hopes he had towards our odd relationship with each other.

I didn't like seeing them two together all the time, even when I didn't want to date him myself. It just...I don't even know...never pleased me. It was like a slap to my face, a slap that left the marks of feeling not worthy of love. And of feeling that I deserved all of it.

And right now, as I laid curled up in my bed, I couldn't think of one good reason why I was remembering all that out of nowhere.

I had long forgotten about Collin, the guy, when I entered middle school and then later, the chaotic world of high school. We remained friends, but soon started to fade away. I didn't even know where he was at this point.

It's funny, you know? How fast a person who has always been there for you can suddenly just disappear. Just suddenly walk out of your life. And how, even when you know that you shouldn't let it get to you because you already knew it was coming, you still let it.

At the same time, let's not forget that time heals all wounds, and it did. I didn't let the rejection from Collin get to me for too long. I reminded myself of who I really was. Of how I can still be happy and get past whatever sense of pain I had felt at Collin giving up on me like that.

It had felt great, letting it go. Not caring about a single thing.

I was glad that I had been able to do it then.

Keyword being; then. Now, I didn't know what was taking me so long.

I just couldn't forget it, all the time I had spent with him, beginning with that first ever conversation we had in Officer Cuppet's office. I just couldn't help but replay every second I spent with him in my head. I wanted to, so badly, relive them. And to make sure that this time, not to give the hint that I didn't want him in my life.

Before, I disagreed with everything he said or planned. I hated how he was so stubborn and how he always bossed me around to do things I didn't want to do, claiming that he was just trying to help me. I hated how he kept jumping back into my life when I was trying to get far away from him as much as I could. I hated how he had just skipped to accusations like that when he spotted E..him..drive me to my house. I hated how I forgave him right away, without even talking about the fight. I hated how I let him comfort me afterwards, letting him come that much closer. I hated how he started to have effects on me. I hated how I eventually started to blush and shiver whenever he used to grab my hand or kiss my cheek during our little plays. I hated how I had even gone as far as dreaming about...that...with him. I hated that he had gotten hurt during the fight he had fought in order to protect me.

I hated how his kiss had felt.

I hated how he had shoved me right away.

I hated how he has completely set his mind on ignoring me, who knows, for forever maybe.

And I swear, I hated this feeling, this feeling of loneliness, of pain, of this...emptiness.

"Aria?" A soft voice interrupted my thoughts. I didn't sit up from my position on the bed, I stayed put, not even blinking away the stinginess in my eyes. Not even bothering to wipe away that one fucking tear that had escaped.

If I haven't said so already, I was hurting.

And there was nothing I could do about it, especially not when the old me would have never believed the reason behind it.

The side of my bed plumped down as I felt a warm hand engulf its fingers around my arm, as if to keep me steady despite the fact that I wasn't trying to balance myself here. I had already lost it, there was no point in steadying me now.

"Aria?" The voice repeated, coming out so soft that it was barely audible. "How long are you gonna stay like this?"

I didn't reply right away as my eyes kept staring at the same direction they had been set at for the past few however many hours I had spent holed up in my bed; my window.

"Stay like what, Mom?" I couldn't believe how dry my throat was right now. How had I even manged to produce any sound through it?

"You know what I'm talking about here." This time, her tone was stern. "Why don't you just go talk to him?"

"Talk to who, Mom?" My voice sounded so dead right now.

I heard my mom release a heavy sigh, "To the same person who's causing all this!"

I knew that she was referring to my current dull, almost corpse-like condition, but I didn't say anything.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mom."

"For goodness sake, Aria!" My mother hollered and by the movement of the bed, I could tell that she had stood up. "How long are you gonna spend your days holed up in your room not talking to anyone? How long are you gonna stay in this distant condition? It's been an entire month!"

A month? It has been a month?

Then why did it feel like centuries had passed?

"Mom, nothing's wrong with me. Don't worry. I just want to be left alone." I muttered, snuggling into my sweater.

"Don't worry? Don't worry?" My mother questioned, her voice voice filled with disbelief. "How can I not worry for my daughter who's in such a devastating state?! And to make it worse, she wouldn't even tell me why!"

Mom's voice quivered at the end and that's when I realized that she really was worried. Had my behavior been this odd to worry my mom, my mom who always payed more attention to Zoey?

And about telling her, what was I to say? How do I even begin to describe it?

I can't believe how much a month had changed me.

I swallowed away the hints of pain that were surging into my heart slowly and agonizingly and managed myself to sit up, although I avoided looking at my mother in the eye.

"I...I just don't know how to handle this, Mom. I was able to get over it with Collin, but now, I don't know how to do it again." I mumbled, looking down on the floor.

"Wait, who's Collin?" Mom then asked me, taking her seat back on the bed.

I just shrugged and shook my head, "It doesn't matter. We faded. Soon, Dylan and I would too as well. I guess."

My mom remained quite for a few seconds "Do you want that, Aria?"

My breath hitched in my throat at those words and I finally managed to look at her in the eyes. They were the striking color of blue, just like mine, piercing through as if trying to see my soul.

"Do you really want that, sweetheart? To just forget him and let your friendship or relationship, wherever you guys are, just fade away like that? Aria, aren't you gonna at least fight for it? At least try instead of standing there watching, not doing anything? Do you really want to let go of him?"

_No._  
Did I?  
_No,__no I didn't._  
_No._

I didn't know what had gotten to me all of a sudden. This constricting pain in my heart just heightened to such extents that instead of answering my mother's questions, I ended up breaking down and bawling my eyes out in her lap.

"Oh, my baby." My mother cooed as she ran her hand in my hair and softly kissed me on top of my head.

I couldn't believe myself. This was taking things too far. This was evident enough that this time, the pain that I felt was real, it was impacting.

A month, for a whole fucking month he hadn't talked to me at all. Hell he didn't even like looking in my direction. Why?! What had I done? If he was mad because of the whole party night incident, then doesn't he know that I didn't ask for another guy to lay his hands all over my body? If he was mad about why I didn't tell him, then couldn't he at least try to understand my weak position? If he was mad about the kiss, then doesn't he know that it was him who initiated it?

If anything, I should be the one mad at him right now, but for some odd reason, the situation was reserved.

But, I swear, I wouldn't be able to stay mad at him for long, if he started talking to me again that is.

I just can't believe, can't even begin to comprehend why I was missing him so much.

"I don't know what to do, mom." I mumbled in her embrace as she slightly rocked me. "I feel like a fucking miserable piece of shit right now. What was my fault anyways?"

"Don't say that, Aria. You didn't go anywhere wrong. The only place where you may have done any wrong is by not going up to him. Sweetheart, you can't just spend the rest of your precious life buried in your covers." My mother answered, her voice soft. I then sat up and wiped the back of my hand on my tear-stained cheek.

"Precious life?!" I questioned, my blood slowly starting to boil. "How's my life precious? What has it ever given me? First, I have to spend most of my childhood dealing with the fact that my dad may never come back from the military. Second, you move here out of nowhere and I had to force myself to forget about all my friends back in NY. Then, I have to deal with all these people talking behind my back about how I was a slut who ran after Dylan Sprouse! Not to mention how that Eric prick nearly raped me that night. And now, when I was finally starting to become used to Dylan, he ended up getting arrested and kissing me out of nowhere just so he could distance himself that far away from me. Mom, how is my life precious? How?!"

Angry, frustrated tears were escaping my eyes like a flood. If I didn't stop crying soon, I would run out of all the liquid in my body.

My mother was shocked, her eyes opened wide and her mouth hung low. A couple of times, she tried to say something, to form any words she could, but nothing came out.

I sniffed and wiped away my overflowing tears. Jolting out of bed, I threw my black leather hoodie and my boots on, and stormed outside.

"Aria!" I could hear mom run down the stairs after me as I flew open the front door. "Where are you going?!"

"I just need some time out. I'll be back in a while." I choked out and slammed the door, storming out into the chilly evening of autumn.

The view of the California skyline was absolutely breath-taking. The sun was setting but the clouds were all scattered out, each a different shade of red. Some even looked pink and some the striking color of gold. It was so beautiful.

I started walking down the sidewalk. Huge houses lined either side of the street and no one was out at this time. I didn't know where it was that I was going. I couldn't really walk anywhere besides to the park, which was only a few blocks away. The area of Woodland Hills was a strictly private community and only a handful of people could afford to live here. My mom, being a very well-known fashion designer from Brooklyn, where we lived before, had somehow managed to settle here. Her career was one of the reasons why we had moved out here to LA. A lot of Hollywood designers and fashion magazine companies had noticed her work and had requested her to design a few shows for them. This was a big step for her so that's why I agreed to move, despite how much I resented the idea.

I had to convince myself, my life never went the way I wanted it to. I just had to get myself used to that.

I buried my cold hands in my pockets as the wind picked up, making my hair blow and bounce behind my back. Walking fast, I finally rounded the block and crossed the road to the park. It wasn't a huge one, but it wasn't too small either. There was a bunch of open space set with picnic tables and trees to lay under and enjoy the view of the sky. Some of the trees had names of couples carved in it. On the other side of the park, there was a small playground area for kids along with a huge basketball court.

There was no one in the park, no one was going to be out here in this cold, but then, I noticed the back of very familiar golden hair. His back was turned to me as he shot hoops in the basket. My heart started to flutter inside my chest. I didn't expect him to be here, that too all alone. My feet froze in my tracks and I couldn't find the energy to move a single muscle in my body anymore.

I should just leave. Leave before he notices me here and ends up giving me that death glare again.

I'd rather not talk to him then look into all the fury in his eyes.

_The only place where you may have done any wrong is by not going up to him._

My mom's voice kept echoing inside my mind, making me question my previous decision of leaving and not looking back. I've never been in such a conflicting situation before. I had stormed out of my house, at this time when it was this cold, to get my mind off of things, not to cross paths with the one that had caused all of them.

I needed to talk to him, I knew that. It had to be done sooner or later. How could we just end our friendship like that? Without even a single word? And that too, right after he had kissed me. Plus, avoiding him had caused nothing but pain and loneliness. It was time to take the other road this time.

You can do this Aria. You're stronger than you think. Don't underestimate yourself. Remember who you really are. You don't let boys get to you like this.

Go ahead, muster up your courage, its just Dylan.

I rolled my eyes.

Yeah, it was Dylan. Dylan fucking Sprouse.

I heaved a deep breath, closing my eyes, and right as I did, every single second I had spent with him came crashing into my mind. Along with that came the constricting pain of the heart. I couldn't bare it anymore. I definitely had to talk to him before I end up loosing my sanity.

I opened my eyes and with a sudden rush of confidence, crossed the road and entered the park. I watched him play as I reached the picnic tables. That was then I noticed that he was dribbling and shooting the ball rather aggressively. As if he was taking his anger out on it.

God, how much anger can a sixteen-year old guy even withhold? Its been an entire month!

I finally reached the basketball court as Dylan shot yet another basket, again, with more force than needed.

Here I go...

He walked over and retrieved the ball and was about to shoot it again when,

"Dylan?" Even I had to struggle to hear my own voice. It was that low and weak. But, nevertheless, I knew he had heard me because right as those words escaped my mouth, his body froze midway throwing the ball. His arms were in the air, hands supporting the ball, but they soon dropped down. I could see him stiffen up from where I was standing.

It suddenly felt like everything around us had just stopped, as if time itself had frozen.

I wasn't moving at all either, it was only my heart that was in movement right now, picking speed with every beat.

The air around was so tensed, this whole environment was so tensed, and I had to resist a painful chuckle. Now who would have thought that I would get into this type of situation with Dylan of all people?

He finally turned around, his hair being blown into his eyes, those grey eyes, due to the wind. My breathing had come to a complete stop and I was trying hard not to shiver right now. And I'm not talking about the type of shiver that's caused by cold.

Today, his eyes weren't firing bombs at my direction, today, they were empty. Just simple empty orbs of grey staring into my red ones, ones that had recently been tearing up more than they ever had before.

He didn't say anything and neither did I. It was just like it had been for the past month and I was sure that he was going to look away and walk out, but he didn't. He spoke.

"What are you doing here?"

I swallowed. It's been a while since I had heard that voice. And by the speed of my heart, it was evident that I had missed it.

"You're not asking the questions today, Dylan." I ignored his question.

He blinked, looked away, and turned his back to me, shooting the ball, making it into the basket perfectly.

"I'm not in the mood to answer any questions. You should just save time and leave." His voice was cold, but for some reason, the coldness seemed forced.

I narrowed my eyes, starting to feel frustrated right now. "Not in the mood? I've had enough of dealing with your 'mood' for the past fucking month. Why can't you just tell me what's wrong with you?!"

He stiffened up again as he shot another aggressive ball into the basket.

"There's nothing wrong, Aria. I just don't want anything to do with you."

Ouch. That was by far, the most painful moment I had experienced.

"How can you even say that?!" My voice was raising at this point. "You can't keep shutting me out after spending so much time with me! Not after all the things you left for me to remember and mope around with! Especially not after you-" I stopped, not being able to finish the sentence. I didn't need to either, we both knew what I was talking about.

"Aria," He fumed, his jaws clenched together and I could just tell that he had closed his eyes due to rage. "I told you, that was a mistake. Why can't you just leave it? And me?"

"How can I?" My voice had lowered down now, almost to a whisper. "If leaving me was your intention from the very beginning, then why did you even bother to come close to me, Dylan? Why did you make it that much harder? You're talking about me leaving you, well guess what, I've been trying to. Trying to forget you and your fucking smirk and your fucking stubbornness and every fucking moment I spent with you for the past month! I tried my best! But I couldn't OK? I just couldn't."

No, Aria. You're not going to cry right now. Not in front of him. Cry all you want back in your room. Just not in front of him. Don't.

He huffed out a sharp sigh as he turned to me, with an expression that I had never seen on his face before.

"Why can't you just understand that I don't want to spend anymore time with you? Why can't you understand that I can't no matter how much I want to! Why can't you just see that if I spent even a second more with you, I might just end up-" He paused, his eyes widening as he swallowed.

I'm about to die. My heart was beating too fast to be in it's normal speed right now. Its just the matter of time before it pops right out of my chest.

"End up what, Dylan?" I merely whispered.

He stared into my eyes and let his arms drop down to his side, as if he was giving up. "End up falling for you." He murmured, looking back and forth between my eyes. The way hhis voice had sounded...

I literally stepped back at those words due to shock.

Did he...

Did he just say that...?

His eyes looked at me with such intensity that I found my knees going weak. They weren't angry anymore. They were sad.

He snapped out of it and shook his head. "Just leave me alone, Aria." He mumbled and before I could even think of another thing, gripped the ball and walked away.

I wanted to call after him, but couldn't. I didn't know where my voice had gone. I couldn't speak, I couldn't breathe. I stayed statued to that one spot in the middle of the basketball court.

I don't even know how long I had stayed like that. All I could think of was, all I could hear, were those words, repeating themselves endlessly in my mind.

End up falling for you.

End up falling for you.

End up falling for you.

My knees hit the rough and cold surface of the cement below.

I still can't believe what I had just heard.

It's impossible.

Dylan, Dylan Sprouse had just confessed his feelings for me.

Please, this chapter was seriosuly a challenge to write. I need your insight and thoughts on it. I feel like it should have been different...idk..what did you all think?


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey there!  
****I know that I took really long to update but I had things come up and I might have had a bit of writer's block. **

**Actually the thing is, I wrote two chapters for this one. **

**I wrote one in Aria's Pov, but didn't like it too much so I decided to write one in Dylan's. **

**For some reason, I felt strong about writing it in Dylan's pov so I posted this one up. **

**I keep thinking, was that a mistake?**

**Should I have just written Aria's?**

**Please comment to let me know and thanks for all the love and support for this story! Love you all!**

* * *

Dylan's POV (I know, finally!)

After saying those words, that came out of nowhere without even a single warning, I stormed out, not withholding anymore power to look at her in the eye. I knew the glimmer in her blue eyes that always shined whenever she was happy, but for the past month, that glimmer had gone and I knew that my distant actions were the cause behind it. They were reason why she was hurting.

But what could I do?

I was hurting too.

I don't even know when it happened, why it happened, or how it happened. It's so confusing. I've never felt this way about anyone else. Sure, I've had a couple serious relationships here and there, but none of them ever made me feel the way Aria did.

God, I sound so corny right now.

I'm not like this. I don't fall for girls. There's a reason why I play Zack Martin on the show. I can't let all this get to me.

_Too bad, you already have. _

My conscience spoke to me.

And it was right. It was too late for me to turn my head back onto this situation. After all, I've been trying for the past month but failed miserably.

I can't get her out of my head, I just can't.

She's around me even when she isn't physically there and it's just all so stressing.

Every school morning, I just want to forget about everything and go over to her house to give her a ride, just like I used to before. Now she goes on the bus, and I go alone in my car, missing her presence during the whole ride. Guess, that's why I was no longer a morning person.

The more I try to get away from her, the more she actually ends up coming near me.

I had nearly gotten a heart attack the day I saw her walk into my history class out of nowhere. I was mad. I was furious.

Why was fate doing this to me?

I never asked for it, to fall in lo-

No, thats too much of a big word.

I probably just have a crush on her, its probably just attraction. I mean, she is beautiful with her glowing skin, her dark, mysterious hair, the one that I want to keep my hands running in, her blue eyes, the ones that are hard to look away from, her cheeks with their adorable dimples whenever she smiled, her rosy lips that-

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I was starting again.

I really need to distract my mind, and that too fast.

"Dylan!" Someone called and I looked up to see Cole approaching me. "Where the hell did you go at this time?"

I held up the ball, "Nowhere, just went to play ball. Why?"

Cole arched his eyebrow questioningly, "At this time?"

"I'll do what I want to, got a problem with that?" I snapped at him, walking past him towards the house.

"I just wanted to say that Dad wants to talk to you!" He called after me.

I shook my head and muttered "Whatever" as I slammed the glass door and walked in. Not even bothering to talk to my dad, who was sitting in the living room eyeing me, I went ahead and made my way towards the stairs.

"Dylan." His stern voice made me jolt to a step midway.

I didn't turn around, I just stayed there, waiting for him to continue.

"Why don't you join me here? I need to talk to you."

I contemplated on that. I didn't know if I possessed the tolerance to go through the 'talks' he had been giving me ever since I got out of jail. Especially not after I unknowingly confessed my feelings to Ar-...her. Gosh, even saying her name was hard.

"Dylan." This time, dad's voice was much more firm, more demanding so I sighed and with slumped shoulders, climbed back down and went over.

"Yeah, Dad?" I merely asked, supporting the basketball on my hip.

He pointed over to the couch opposite the one he was sitting on. "Why don't you sit down? This might take a while."

Huffing out an exasperated sigh, and making sure that he heard it, I went over and plumped down.

My dad eyes me for a while before he took a sip from the mug he was holding and placed it down on the coffee table. Then, he joined his hands and started talking, "Ok, before I begin, I will say that it was my decision to send you and your brother to a public school."

I remained quite, waiting for him to continue.

"My only intention behind that was for you and you brother to experience the life outside of all the stardom. I just wanted to give you two a normal childhood, to have a healthy social and educational experience outside of the set, but," He looked up at me in the eyes. "I'm afraid that that was not the case in this situation."

I still remained silent, waiting for him to get to the point. Although I was starting to dread as he came closer and closer to it.

"Are you following me here?" He asked.

I answered by a simple shrug.

My dad then heaved out a strong sigh and leaned back on the couch.

"Dylan, I just want to get to the point here. I think, along with Drey, that it would be the best to transfer your education to a private one on-set."

I sat up, "What? Why?!"

"Do you really want me to explain why we think that? Or should I just bring you your record that has been scarred with a police stamp?" My dad retorted back.

"Dad, I don't want to leave school!" I stood up, anger boiling inside me even more than it was before.

"Well, I don't want you to end up in jail again!" He exclaimed back.

"Dad, it won't happen again! I promise! But you can't take me out of school! I don't want any on-set tutoring!" I protested.

"Dylan Thomas, do I need to remind you of your unacceptable and violating actions towards that innocent boy? He was supposed to be out by now but doctors are saying that he is still too weak!" Dad said.

"Innocent boy? Innocent boy? That bastard is nowhere near to being innocent! He got what he deserved!" I exclaimed, blood boiling at the thought of Eric. How dare he touch Aria like that? If those teachers hadn't come in between, I swear I would've killed him right there and then.

"What did he do? Why aren't you telling us that? You didn't even tell the police, which made it even that much harder to bail you out! Seriously, Dyl! Jail? Are you kidding me?!" Dad's face was turning red and the conversation was getting more heated by the second.

And I didn't want that. Not right now.

I took a deep breath and pinched the top of my nose.

"Dad," I tried to calm my voice down. "I just don't want to talk about that incident anymore, please. And I don't want to talk about school either, I just want to be left alone."

With that, I picked up the ball and strolled over to the stairs, thankful that my dad didn't say anything further.

Halfway up, I was interrupted.

"Dylan?" Dad's voice was blank and I had to force myself to stop once again, this time, I didn't turn around.

"Does all of this, by any chance, has to do with a girl?"

My eyes grew wide and my heartbeat picked up.

Dad has always been close to me and Cole, but that didn't mean he could tell, could he?

I turned my head to stare at my dad's blank eyes.

"Why would you think that?" Came out of my mouth.

Dad huffed out a breath and stood up, walking over to the railing of the stairs as he took a piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Just guessing." He said, handing me the folded loose-leaf paper. "You dropped this on your way to school this morning."

With that said, Dad didn't say another word and exited, leaving me standing frozen on the steps.

With my heart beating hard enough to cause my ears to throb, I looked at the paper and slowly unfolded it.

An excruciating pain shot itself in my chest as I looked down at the perfectly sketched image of Aria, the one I had drawn during history.

I didn't know what had gotten into me that day. She was sitting only a few feet away from me but I didn't do anything. I was getting furious at myself, for doing this to both me and her, and ended up sketching this on the paper as I zoned the voice of my teacher out.

And as sad as it is, this isn't the only drawing I had made of her.

There were a lot littered somewhere inside the depths of my closet.

I just don't know what happens to me sometimes.

All the frustrations just get to me sometimes that I can't even process anything or even think of what I'm doing until after I have filled a whole canvas with her image.

I know that I was starting to become serious about her, and that's what scared me the most.

* * *

"Did you talk to her?" Cole asked as I slammed the locker shut.

"How many times are you going to ask me that question?" I snapped at him as I walked away. He followed me pursuit. He asked me that question every morning. Being a twin, he knew where my problems originated from, but he didn't know the whole deal.

"Dyl, it's been a month. You know you should really at least go say a Hi or something! She's even in your class now for God's sake." He exclaimed.

I can't believe how excited he was right now, or how lightly he was taking the whole situation. "Cole, can't you just drop the topic! I don't want to talk to her, not gonna either." I fastened my pace but he soon grabbed my forearm and forced me to turn around.

I had to jump back at the sudden way his face had become serious.

"Why are you doing this to yourself? I know that all of whats going around is because of Aria, then why don't you just talk to her about it? I've never seen you so angered and distant all the time." He ranted, slightly angry. "And I've never seen Aria this devastated all the time either." He then added, his voice lowering down as he looked at me with..what? Disappointment?

I had to work hard to swallow the pain as he said those words, those last ones.

"Stop worrying about it, Cole. Just leave me alone." I merely managed to make my voice strong when I was breaking into pieces inside and turned around, walking away before he could say a word.

I had too much shit on my shoulders to take Cole's outtakes.

Although, I understood what he was going through. I seriously have never acted the way I had been since I got out of jail. Maybe that's because before then, I had never expected to end up in jail.

Or to fall for a girl.

Gosh, I just want to punch something so hard right now.

I don't want to let a simple girl get to me like this, but I couldn't run away from it either. I was afraid of falling, even though, as much as I hated to admit it, I already had.

The only reason why I even was distancing myself from her was so that I could forget about her, to completely forget that she had even walked inside my life. I wanted to let her go, to let my feelings go, but since they only became stronger, especially after I had just staright up kissed her inside the cell, I couldn't.

I knew it was nearly impossible for me to do so, yet I wasn't giving up on ignoring her.

And that's what angered me the most.

It infuriated me that I couldn't go back to my normal self without her in my life. I had tried, but failed.

I was just so angry all the time.

Maybe it was caused by the constant constrictions of my heart, I don't know.

I had stayed up all night, again, painting her.

It's been a normal routine for me lately.

I still had to finish the one I had started.

My God, Aria Evans, what were you doing to me?

* * *

I hav no idea how this chapter went, I have only an hour left to do my hw before my bed time and I'm under a lot of stress, but at the same time, I wanted to update this already so here it is!

If you're disappointed, please don't be harsh about it, but I do hope that it isn't that big of a disppointment!


	22. Chapter 22

**I just failed my geometry test, but lets move on to the story either way! :**D

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**Aria's POV**

I have been feeling numb and confused ever since that incident at the basketball court. I don't know what to do with this kind of situation. Other girls, who were probably much more normal than me, would be screaming and jumping up and down with joy if they found out that a celebrity had just fallen for them, but not so for me. The thought of meaning something like that to someone, not just Dylan alone, scared the living fuck out of me.

To mean something that special to someone comes with its own responsibilities and actions and I doubt that I'm ready to go to that level.

On top, to make it all worse, he had said that he had fallen for me, not something like that he liked me. I may be over thinking it, but doesn't that take it too far and serious? And with the look in his eyes, those eyes, I knew that he meant every word he was saying.

God, please help me.

What do I do?I miss him, I want to go back to him, but at the same time, I can't.

He had said himself to leave him alone. Which is another confusing part. If someone likes you, has feelings for you, isn't it normally the case that they would try to come near you instead of distancing themselves as far as they can?

Why was he doing that?

"Wow, I feel like I've just walked into the realm of depression." A familiar voice interrupts me as I look up to see Alice leaning on the locker next to mine with her arms crossed as she shook her head at me.

Rolling my eyes, I smacked my locker shut and walked past her, "I'm not depressed, Al."

"Says the girl who's wearing all black along with that frown she's been carrying for the past month." She retorted back as we walked down the empty hallway. I had decided to skip seventh period but didn't know that Alice had the same plan in mind.

With so much shit flying around in my mind, I didn't have the capacity or tolerance to sit in my Spanish class conjugating verbs.

"I always wear black and I'm not carrying any frown." I exclaimed.

"Seriously though, for how long are you gonna keep it in?" She then questioned, stopping and turning to me.

I stopped as well and looked into her smoky eyes that were currently squinting.

"Keep what in?"

"Oh my gosh, can you just drop the act for a mere second?" She rolled her eyes.

"Alice, I have no idea what you're talking about." I was so confused right now.

She then grabbed my shoulders and started to shake me. "Look at yourself, Aria! I've never seen a girl like you this miserable in my life before! Why are you torturing yourself by hiding your own feelings?!"

With my head dizzying due to the shaking, I finally managed to get her to stop.

"Alice, What feelings are you talking about?" I asked, my voice louder this time to emphasize that I was getting annoyed.

She let go of me and dropped her arms, huffing out a long breath. "Aria, I'm talking about your feelings towards that fuckhead."

I arched my eyebrow, "Fuckhead?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes again, "Dylan."

I nearly choked out to nothing as I heard his name come out of her mouth.

"What?!" I nearly screamed. "Why the fuck would you think that?!"

Alice crossed her arms, tilted her head and just looked at me, blinking her eyes momentarily.

"Stop looking at me like that! What you're thinking is wrong." I muttered and started walking again. The sound of Alice's heeled boots soon followed.

"I can't believe that you yourself didn't acknowledge your own feelings! I know that you aren't the dating type, but this is taking things too far!" Her voice boomed in the hallway as I shut my eyes. No, that's impossible. What she's saying is impossible.

"Aria, if you're not gonna say it, then I will. You like Dylan. You always have, you're just too chicken to admit it." Her voice got firmer and firmer, causing that much more pain inside my head.

"Please, stop." I begged her. She then grabbed my arm and forced me to turn around.

"Why are you running away from yourself?" Her eyes shot into mine and I could tell that she wasn't kidding around.

"I'm not. Alice, I don't have any feelings for him, I never did-"

"Than why have you been moping around for the past month like a pitiful piece of shit just because he stopped talking to you?"

I opened my mouth as I struggled to find any words. "I-I-"

"Exactly, Aria. You don't know because you're pushing those feelings away and I'm tired of seeing you like this. I've been waiting for you to come to the realization already but it's obvious that you're slow as fuck."

My head dropped down into my hand. I was having a hard time processing everything. What Alice was saying was wrong. I mean, it was, right? I can't possibly fall for Dylan like he had for me.

_Why not?_

Ugh, that voice. I've been listening to it ever since Dylan confessed his feelings. I keep telling myself that developing feelings for him was impossible, but then there was always this other voice that told me otherwise. I knew that this other voice was coming from the part of me that desperately wanted him back in my life. That, even though his cockiness and stubbornness would annoy me, I still wanted him to be a part of me again. That just wanted to forget everything and go back to how we were before.

I still remember the day we took off and went to the mall, then the arcade, then the movies, and finally, that glorious moment at the beach. God that night was so beautiful. And the way Dylan was holding me from the back, was that where he first started developing his feelings? And how he had also told me that I was the only one he had taken to the beach at night when he would usually go there alone, and how he had become protective of me concerning Eric from the first day when we escaped from the party to go get subway, and how he had willingly offered to help me, and how he had passed all limits and even went to jail for me, despite the fact that he was always under they eyes of constant media worms.

What more could the guy even do for me? No one has gone that far before? To top it off, I had only known him for a few months. And as surprising as it is, every time that I spent with him somehow made me forget about my home city, about not being able to put up with my mom's expectations regarding my performance in school, about having Dad gone off for so long, about all the other crap that I faced on daily basis.

Seriously though, what would I lose from falling for this guy?

And most importantly, what would I gain for letting him go?

My God, did I just say that?

"Aria!" Alice yelled at me. I jumped up and snapped out of my thoughts as I blinked at her.

"Huh?"

Alice was looking somewhere past my shoulder and pointed towards it.

"I asked, isn't that Dylan over there with that girl?" She scrunched her nose. I followed her gaze and looked past the corner to the other hallway. As my eyes came in contact with the familiar shine of his dirty blonde hair, I could tell that indeed, it was him. For a moment, I just looked at him and took him in. He was wearing white pants with a loose black full sleeved sweatshirt and for some reason, seeing him in a dark color really made him look good.

God, please don't tell me I was checking him out now.

Seeing that he was talking to someone, my eyes finally roamed over to the other side to see that there was girl standing in front of him. She had light brown hair with side bangs and was constantly giggling and playing with a strand of hair. I don't think I recognized her. Never seen her around Dylan before.

"Yeah, yeah that is him." Alice exclaimed behind me, rather to herself.

I clutched my books tighter to my chest as I saw them both burst out laughing. Wow, I guess his anger had subsided down now after so long. Thanks, Mystery Girl, for accomplishing what even I couldn't, for accomplishing the impossible.

"Do you know her?" I heard Alice ask behind me.

I stare at the two a bit longer. "No, I don't." I replied, my voice coming out as a whisper.

Did Dylan move on already?

But why should I care?

The two talked for a bit long before the girl leaned in, kissed his cheek, they both hugged, and then bid their farewells and went their separate ways. From memory, I knew that Dylan had science seventh period, and also the fact that he loved annoying his teacher, the infamous, Mr. Jill, by always arriving late.

"That bitch." Alice growled behind me and I turn to see her face scrunched up as she tightened her fist and massaged her wrist. "You stay here, I'll take care of that-"

I placed my hands on her arm and pulled her back before she could go off. "Alice! Calm down, you don't have to do that!" This girl was so unbelievable sometimes.

Alice widened her eyes at me, "Aria, didn't you see the way she was flirting with him?! Seriously, that girl needs to know her limits and I guess my fist is willing to help her figure them out."

I went ahead and stopped her once again. "Alice, no. The last time a friend of mine got into a fight for me, I lost him. I don't want that to repeat."

Alice calmed down and looked at me, "Aria, you can still get him back. Just open up your feelings." I didn't say anything as my head turned back to the direction where he was standing at.

What feelings?

The ones that made me miss him every single second of the day? The ones that caused all the dreams to form? The ones that stabbed a million burning knives right into my cheeks as I saw his arms engulf around that girl?

"Aria..." Alice placed her hand on my shoulder. I slid it off and turned around.

"I have to go," I muttered, walking off.

Ignore the pain.

Ignore the pain.

Just ignore the fucking pain, Aria. Walk away.

Walk away from him.

* * *

**Ok, I know I haven't updated in a while, and I'm sorry! I have guests over and was too busy with them! But nevertheless, I knew I needed to post a chapter up soon, so even though I'm not that positive with my work on this one, here it is!**

**I keep feeling as if some of my readers are leaving me. Please don't go! I need you :(**

**Thanks for reading and remember to share your feedbacks! Please do share my story if you liked it with your friends! I really do need more readers! (Especially on Wattpad :))**


	23. Chapter 23

**Yay! I'm updating early! Some of you may not even give a shit and some of you might be jumping up and down in joy. But nevertheless, let's get on with it!**

**I'm aware that some** **of you might be a bit confused, maybe even disappointed to see Dylan with another girl but, not trying to spoil anything, all I can say is stick around, I've already planned what's going to happen. So just stay tuned!**

**Thanks, love you all! Remember that I need your thoughts, votes, and follows!**

**Dylan's POV**

"I'm glad that you're giving us another chance, Dyl." Danielle chimed at me and I forced myself to smile. What the heck was I even doing? Do I really want to do this?

"I've known you for a while, Dani. I think that we deserve a second chance." Came out of my mouth, without even letting me think what it was that I was actually saying.

"You're right." Danielle smiled once again. "Call me later, ok?"

I managed to get out a nod, "Of course."

Giggling, she surprised me by leaning and kissing my cheek as she wrapped her arms around me. Feeling as if I should return it for the heck of it, I awkwardly placed my arms around her.

She withdrew and flipped her brown hair, an action she had been repeating ever since we stopped in the middle of the hallway to talk. "K, then. I'll see you later. Bye."

"Bye." I faked a smile and waved as we both parted our ways. Turning around, I walked down the vacant hallway that led to my science class. Why did I just do that? Why the fuck did I just do that?

Was I seriously thinking that going back to my ex would mend my feelings towards Aria? Danielle was nothing compared to her. There were specific reasons why I broke up with her in the first place but apparently, the broken Dylan inside me had thought that it would be an amazing idea to go back to my ex in order to divert my mind away from Aria. I doubt that this was going to be a good plan.

I shook my head, the deed was already done. I already told her that I would like to meet up sometime. There was no going back anymore.

Arriving late to Mr. Jill's class like always, I stumbled towards my seat in the back and immediately zoned out. I couldn't focus on cell respiration right now. Only the fact of how much I was taking myself away from Aria.

It was my fault anyways. I shouldn't be afraid of the feelings I have towards her, but yet, I am. And it this unwanted fear that's making me run away from her. Sometimes I just wished that she had never walked into my life at all.

I wished that she hadn't gotten detention that day, where we first met in Cuppet's office. I wished she hadn't moved into a house right next to mine. I wished she hadn't gone to that party and I wished I hadn't taken her out. I don't know what had gotten into me that night. As beautiful as she looked that day, despite the fact that I didn't even know her that well back then, she looked uncomfortable and out of place. I'm a guy after all, I had to step in and help out a hot girl. That's normal. But with how we bloomed after that that was what took me off.

I can;t believe how fast my feelings towards her kept developing that even I didn't get the time to process anything. And the only thing that told me that it was different this time was the fact that I had taken her to my quiet place and also ended up drawing her over a million times without even realizing.

Just like I was doing right now.

I don't recall picking up my pencil and sketching her at the corner of my science notes up until someone's hand had snatched the paper off of my desk.

I looked to see bald-headed Mr. Jill looked down at it through his enormous glasses, squinting.

Shit.

"Hmm." Came out of his mouth as he observed my paper front and back, then turned his beady little eyes down at me. "Mr. Sprouse, shall I remind you that you aren't sitting in an art class?"

I tapped my pencil on the desk and merely gave him a careless shrug.

"First, you arrived late, the you don't even pay attention, guess I'll be seeing you in detention after school today." He exclaimed and dropped the paper down in front of me as he turned around and dragged his fat ass back towards the front.

I sighed, leaned back in my chair, and continued working on my unfinished business. Sketching her eyes was my favorite part and there was no way that I was going to choose some cell shit over it.

Halfway through the class, right when I started to work on her hair, I felt my phone vibrate inside my pocket. I fished out and saw that it was a text message from Danielle. rolling my eyes, I went into the app to see that she had sent me an old photo of us in a restaurant. It was the one where she was feeding me a french fry. Underneath it, she wrote 'Babe, do you remember this?'

I let out a long, tired sigh. Yes, I remembered it. But that didn't mean I wanted to. I can't really wrap my mind around why I played with girls before. Especially Danielle. I don't recall why I was so interest in her last year. We went out for a few months before I got bored and cut it off. She was just too clingy, too girly, too possessive.

Should I reply? Eh, I'll tell her my teacher was looking so I couldn't text back. I was about to turn my phone off when my eyes roamed over to the side where all the lists of my texts were, particularly the one with Aria's name on it. With a hesitant move, I tapped on the conversation. We didn't really used to text. Our last conversation consisted of us arguing about the nickname I had given her. Honestly, I don't even remember where "M'lil Ar Ar" had even came from. I just wanted to give her a nickname that would be different from what others may have given her. "Ari" seemed to be the obvious so I went for another approach and somehow ended up with that. She didn't like it, I knew that, but at least that way, she would remember that somebody once used to call her that.

Despite the distance, there's a part of me that doesn't want her to ever forget me, the same part that knew that I wouldn't be able to forget her either. I went to jail for that girl for fucks sake! No to mention all the canvas filled paintings of her face piled inside my room would ever let me forget her.

"Sprouse!" Mr. Jill yelled. "Hand it over!" He was referring to that phone. Rolling my eyes, I went up and turned it in. At least now I have an excuse for not replying to Danielle.

Mr. Moseby and Emma Tutweiller walk inside the corridor. Together, they scrunch their noses and make a a face at some stench.  
Mr. Moseby: Uh! It reeks!

He goes ahead and pulls his pocket hanky out as it immediately gets replaced by a second one. Confused, Miss Tutweiller reaches over and takes that one out to find it get replaced with another one. They walk over to a door where two men in bright orange safety suits are standing.

Mr. Moseby: (Pointing at the door) Oh, this is where its coming from. Ok, who is responsible for this?

A group of students is seen laughing and giving high fives to Zack. Upon seeing Moseby, the students scurry away, leaving Zack alone.

Mr. Moseby: Why do I even bother to ask? What were you thinking?!

Zack: Well, Mr. Akapenny questioned my ability to create a chemical reaction so...

Miss Tutweiller: To prove you could, you set off a sink cloud in the class?

Zack: Exactly! I think its worthy of an A.

Miss Tutweiller and Mr. Moseby ignore Zack and make their way towards the safety-dressed men by the classroom door.

Mr. Moseby: (To the men) Alright gentlemen, I want you to be careful in there. No human could stand even a whiff of this toxic air.

Right then, Woody walks out of the classroom eating chocolate cake.

Mr. Moseby, Miss Tutweiller, and Zack stare at him walk away, shocked and confused.

"AND CUT!" The director finally yelled and I drop my act as Zack Martin. "Great job, guys! That was excellent, no need to do a do-over." He then added and I silently let out a prayer of gratitde. As the cast and crew rejoice together excitedly, I dragged my feet over to the quiet corner where the snack table was, piled with every tyoe of food I could come up with. Instead of going for the usual amount of junk food, I went ahead and reached for a water bottle. I unscrewed the top when I felt someone join me.

"Hey, champ. You OK?" Brenda flashed her smile as she leaned on the table with her elbow. I forced myself to smile as well. There's honestly no need to drag her into my mess.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I went ahead and took a big chug. For a few seconds, Brenda didn't say anything and just stared at me, studying me very closely. I nervously bottled the cap and placed it down. For one thing, Brenda only needed to take a good look at me to tell whether something was wrong or not. She was even better at it than Cole was.

"Dyl, you know you can tell me anything, right?" She spoke, her smile still visible although it expressed no happiness whatsoever. I glimpsed at her before looking away again.

"Yeah, I know." I choked out.

It didn't matter who I told my problems to. No one could help me in this situation. Not even myself.

Brenda heaved out a long sigh, finally taking her eyes off of me. If I was any wrong, I would say that a hint of disappointment had flashed across her face. "Ok, then." With that, she turned and started to make her way back. For some reason, a hint of guilt purged inside me. Brenda was like an older sister to me that I never had. There are some things of my life that I couldn't even share with my own twin or dad, but strangely, could with Brenda. She was much more closer to me than people thought. She always knew what to do and sometimes, even knew my answer to a problem before I did myself. With that thought, the next thing I knew, my mouth had spoken without a warning once again.

"Its Aria."

Brenda froze in her steps, but then turned around, giving me a narrowed-eye look. "NOOO!" She exclaimed sarcastically.

I raised my eyebrow, "Is it seriously that obvious?"

"Yes," She nodded her head, emphasizing her point. "At least to the people that know you well."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, leaning my back on the table and placing my hands in my ants' pockets. "I-I I just don't know what to do, Brenda. I'm so lost." Whatever type of sarcastic expression she had on her face before vanished instantly and was replaced with genuine concern.

"Look, Dyl. This is a matter of the heart. Think carefully, and after that, think carefully once again before taking any decisions." She said.

"But how?" I exclaimed. "I'm so confused about everything! I don't know what to do, what to say, what to think! Every single second of every single passing day she stays in my mind! But yet, I run away from her as if she's some sort of a disease! I don't know why I'm even doing that! I don't know why or of what it is that I'm so scared of!" I exploded.

When I turned back my restless gaze back to Brenda, much to my shock, I found her smiling. Did I miss out on a joke over here? Or am I just hallucinating now?

She walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder, her smile still present. "Trust me, Lumpkin. You're new at this, it will get better soon."

Lumpkin. My dad had given me that nickname and where he had gotten it from, I didn't know. He used to call me that, but not anymore. Nevertheless, that didn't stop Brenda. Speaking of embarrassing nicknames reminds of M'lil Ar Ar.

Cant my mind just give me a second long break from her thought?

For a minute, I just stared at Brenda, trying to decode what she was trying to say here. She was a great actress, she really was, and as I studied her, I realized that she was genuinely smiling an not just playing around with me.

"Dyl!" Someone shouted my name over from the stage. "C'mon, everyone's ready for the next scene!"

Brenda's smile widened as she nudged me, "Go ahead, Lumpkin. Go rock the stage like always."

Standing up straight, I looked at her as I walked around her, "You know you're creepy sometimes." She chuckled as a dimple formed on one of her cheeks.

Dimples. Aria has dimples. That too, two of them.

Fucking snap out of it, Lumpkin! I scolded myself as I took my seat at one of the desks of the classroom. Wait, what were my lines again?

"AAND ACTION!" Danny, the director yelled as Phill and Erin started to walk in circles around me. I was supposed to act nervous right now, but there was no need to act when I already was.

Damn it, whats my line?!

By now, Erin and Phill had completed at least three rounds around me, each starting to express a face of confusion. Fuck, man!

I heard a giggle from somewhere off the stage as Erin and Phill kept walking around me like they were supposed to in the scripts, although, it didn't say to do it for this long. I felt so stupid right now.

This kept going on for a while till the whole crew had ended up laughing at my stupidity and at how Erin and Phil just kept walking around in circles like some sick weirdos.

"Ok, Dyl..." Danny started, but didn't continue as he clutched onto his stomach due to laughter at the faces Phil was making.

I squirmed in my seat and fiddled with my hands. "Sorry, I forgot my lines." I muttered. That's when both Phil and Erin stopped and dropped down in one of the seats.

"Oh thank God! I was about to puke while waiting for you to admit that already!" Phill exclaimed, dropping his head in his hand. I was well-known amongst our group to never forget my lines, no matter how little time I may have spent on memorizing them. Today was the first and I feel like my ego had gotten injured.

Thanks a lot, Aria Evans.

When the laughter finally subsided down, Irene walked over and helped me go through the script once again before resuming the shoot.

This time, I didn't forget any lines, but still had to do it over again because, according to the expert observation of Danny, I wasn't trying my best on the acting part. During the whole commotion, I had spotted Brenda with her arms crossed looking at me with the same smile plastered on her face from before.

...

"I can't believe we're back to the place where we started!" Danielle squeaked as we walked into the Kozy's Kafe. It was a well-run cafe around this area of LA and it was here where I first approached Danielle with my flirtatious smile. God, what was I even thinking?

She grabbed my hand and pulled us through the crowds of people and into a booth. We plumped down and I stared out the window. It was drizzling today.

I knew that Danielle was flashing me one of her grins right now, but I pretend to ignore it.

"You know, I should go order, what do you want?" I stood up.

"The usual." She shrugged, placing her chin on her hand as she smiled at me.

"Which is...?" I arched my eyebrow, waiting. For a second, a hint of confusion swept across her face but then she waved it off.

"Oh, you're so silly!" she giggled. "You didn't forget what I usually order, did you?"

For real, its a wonder that I still remember her name, let alone her favorite drink. I ran a hand through my hair awkwardly Now what was I supposed to do? I came to Danielle to distract my mind but the only thing she had accomplished so far was to get on my nerves.

"Umm..." I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck as I avoided her gaze.

"Awe, you're so cute, I'll just let you go. I'll have a some Vanilla Bean Frappaccino, please." She smiled. Phew, thank God.

"Alright, be back soon." I chirped and sped my way towards the counter. It was actually very crowded right now so I ended up waiting in a line. I had no problem with it, the faster this 'date' ends, the better.

After killing a few quick minutes playing candy crush on my phone, the girl in front of me finally took her order and turned around, nearly crashing into me.

It was then I noticed that it was Bree. (A/N: Haha, did you all think it was Aria? I got'cha didn't I?)

"Dylan!" She exclaimed, breathlessly at the shock of crashing into me. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to hunt llamas," I replied. "Wanna join?" Smirking, I went around her and towards the counter. She chuckled with two coffee cups in her hands.

"No, thank you. I'm here to cut time with ma'girls." She exclaimed, flashing her pearly whites.

As I waited for the guy to come, I perched my weight on the table with my elbows and furrowed my eyebrows. " So, you aren't here with Cole?"

"No, he has shooting right now, remember?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot. So who're you here with then?" I asked.

"Alice. And also Aria but she hasn't arrived yet."

The smirk that was playing on my lips earlier immediately got wiped away at the mention of her name. Did I mention that that girl just kept coming closer and closer despite the fact that I was running away from her? It'c been well over a week since my sudden confession to her at the basketball court and I haven't spoken to her ever since.

"Yeah, we are thinking of planning an all-girls weekend." Bree continued on, not realizing the sudden change that had overtook me, or maybe she had, but was choosing on ignoring it. I didn't know and frankly, I didn't care.

"Hey," I then interrupted her, earning her attention. "Is..." I looked down at my fiddling hands. "Is..she okay?"

Bree squinted her eyes, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, after what happened with Eric, I didn't get the chance to ask her, how's she doing?" I hesitantly asked her. Seriously, now I choose to worry for her?

The chirpy, cheery mood that she was in before immediately got replaced with a dull one. Her eyes drooped low as she looked at me with what...pain filled in them?

"Dyl, she's been over it for a while now, and its about time that you should take that step too. and if anything, the only reason behind her current miserbale state is your choice of constantly pushing her away." With having that knife stabbed into my heart mercilessly, Bree turned around and left. My eyes followed hers to the booth where Alice was already waiting for her. Alice had been looking at our direction and as I caught sight of her, she gave me the dirty eye. Huffing out a breath, I finally turned back to the counter guy, who had just approached me, and ordered.

Waiting for the order to come, I looked around and my gaze froze towards the entrance doors right when Aria walked in. For a second, I had forgotten about everything around me. I had been avoiding even looking at her the entire week that now that she had come within my line of vision, I couldn't help but glue my eyes to her. Damn she looked so hot right now. Especially with the dark, blood red color of her full sleeved shirt that was hugging her body like second skin compared with the darkness of her hair cascading down just completely knocked me out into another world.

I should paint her in this color. I should definitely paint her in this color.

"Sir?" Someone asked me. "Excuse me?"

I snapped out of my trance and looked at the counter guy staring at me.

"Huh?"

"Your order." He handed me the cups of coffee.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." I muttered and paid for the drinks. I looked over at the doors again, but she was gone and a group of people were blocking the sight of the booth that Bree and Alice were at.

Sighing, with a heavy heart, I walked back to the booth Danielle was waiting for me in. I placed the coffee cups down on the table and plumped down low in the seat, placing my head on the back and closing my eyes.

"Wow, all the standing must have really tired you out." I heard Danielle say.

"Mhmm." I replied.

I was tired. Extremely tired. Not pysically, but emotionally.

"Dyl, didn't you get me my Vanilla Bean Frapucino?" She then asked and I opened my eyes to see confusiong whipped across her face as she held both the cups up.

"Yeah, I did. Why?" I merely, asked.

"Babe, both of these are the regular brewed coffee."

Huh, I hadn't realized that I had ordered that. To think, when did I even place my order? I inwardly sighed.

And your effects on me strike again, M'lil Ar Ar. Great job, that's two in a day. I'm totally amazed and proud of you.

"Oh, sorry." I muttered to Danielle. " I was really tired, I-I'll just go order another one." I stood up, but Danielle held my arm and made me sit back down.

"No, no, babe. Its ok. Just stay." She cooed.

Ok, then. Guess I can't run away from her this time. But right when my eyes roamed over towards the counter to see how long the line was, I spotted Aria standing there, which then made me wish that I had just gone back up there.

"So, how was work today?" Danielle asked but she soon zoned out as I couldn't find the ability to tear my eyes away from Aria. God, the way her skin was glowing under the cafe light. I wonder what it would feel like to touch her, to embrace her.

Just the thought sent a shiver down my spine.

"Dyl?" A squeaky voice interfered, making me annoyed. "Dylan?!"

I need to do something. Something really fast because distancing myself away from her was doing nothing but sucking away my sanity.

_Look, Dyl. This is a matter of the heart. Think carefully, and after that, think carefully once again before taking any decisions._

Brenda's voice rang inside my head as my pulse started to speed up. A sudden rush of energy surged through my body and I didn't know where it was coming from. But it definitely was too much to keep in.

I had thought about this, and then thought about it over again, now I need to take an action, just like Brenda had said.

"I'll be back," I muttered through tightened jaws as I stormed off of the seat and towards the line.

...

**Phew! Guess I broke my word count record today, aren't ya'll proud of me? **

**Disclaimer: The script thing from the show's episode, "In the Line of Duty" belongs to Disney, NOT ME. **

**To fanfiction guest (Emma): Thanks a lot for your advise and nice, helpful reviews! I really do like your idea of switching around with Dylan and Aria's perspectives! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!**

**The rest of you all, are you excited? **

**What are your thoughts and predictions? What do you think is gonna happen? What do you WANT to happen? Comment/ Review to let me know!**

**Please, please, pretty please share my story with your friends and followers. I really want this to get out there! And thanks for all your love and support. **

**Is anyone even reading the Author's Note at this point?**

**Lol anyways, remember to VOTE/COMMENT/FOLLOW! They all make me want to update faster, even if it means failing a geometry test :p**


	24. Chapter 24

**Aria's POV~**

The line was very long today and the entire café was crowded from corner to corner. I kept shifting with my feet, tired of waiting for my turn. If anything, I was definitely not a patient person. I had already said hi to Bree and Alice before joining the line and for some odd reason, they both seemed to be a little off, which is weird since they seemed to be extremely and overly-excited when they had conference-called me earlier to arrive at Kozy's as soon as possible. Apparently, they wanted us three to get together and plan an all-girls' weekend. I had faintly agreed to it, only because I knew that they were doing it for me and didn't want for them to think that I was unappreciative of their effort to cheer me up.

I was beyond thankful once I saw that there was only one more guy left in front of me before it would be my turn. I fiddled with my fingers and started to think over what I wanted to order when, out of nowhere, I heard my name being called from behind me.

"Aria."

I didn't need to be a genius to figure out who the owner of the voice was. My heart rate was fast enough to catch up on time as it started to beat hard enough for my ears to throb. Gulping nervously, I turned around to have my eyes meet with his striking grey ones.

"Dylan?" My voice came out rather shaky and slurry as I tried to calm myself down. "What are you doing here?"

I know that that was a stupid question, but what else could I say?

"I need to talk to you." He simply said. "Like right now."

I blinked, that was out of nowhere. Usually it would be trying to reach him but looks like the tables have turned today.

"But, Dyla-"

"I'm not taking any buts." He muttered, reached over, and grabbed my wrist, pulling me out of the line right as my turn came up. I was in too much shock to really protest as he guided me through the crowds of people to an empty booth in the corner. On my way, my eyes had landed on a booth where a lonely girl sat with very familiar brown hair. Was that the girl from school? The one that was flirting with Dylan in the hallway?

He finally let go of my wrist as we arrived at the table and we both dropped down into our seats. My heart was doing extreme jumping jacks inside my chest right now. Who knows what kind of bomb Dylan was about to launch at me today?

I looked at him and waited as he looked down at the table, probably thinking and trying to form words. After a few more seconds or so, he heaved out a sigh and leaned back, pinching the top of his nose.

"God, I don't know how to start this…" He mumbled rather to himself. I noticed how tired and worn out he looked and that's when my nerves calmed down. This was Dylan, there's no need to be nervous.

"You can always start with explaining why you hate me…?" I spoke up, without even realizing it up until the words had escaped my mouth. He withdrew his hand from his face and squinted his eyes at me.

"What?" He questioned disbelievingly. "Why would you think that?"

I merely gave him a slight shrug, "Isn't that why you've been avoiding me?"

He looked at me for a few seconds as if he couldn't comprehend why I would come to that conclusion. Yeah, strangely, I couldn't either, despite the fact that I had made it. It just came out of my mouth without any warning or second thought.

He shook his head, as if dismissing the thought completely. "Aria, I don't hate you." He then looked away and mumbled, "I don't think I ever can."

"Then why?" I asked, my voice finally sounding much stronger and demanding now. "Why have you been running away from me? I mean, if leaving was your intention from the beginning, then why did you even bother to step into my life in the first place?"

His eyes returned to mine and now were gleaming with a dull, almost sad expression. "I didn't do it by my own choice, Aria. It just happened. You just kept showing up everywhere I went, it was getting harder and harder to just dismiss you."

"And yet that's exactly what you've been doing for the past two months." I snickered. "And that too without any explanation."

Dylan sat up in his seat, leaning in, "I would've if I had had any! Aria, you think you've had the worst side of this entire situation, but trust me, you haven't."

"How Dylan? How has all of this been hard on you, especially more than it was on me?"

He squeezed his eyes shut, and then opened them again. He really did look like all the energy had drained out of him, which was odd because it was Dylan we're talking about here.

"Forget it." He muttered, shaking his head. "You won't get it."

I was starting to get fed up with this. He was the one who had come up to me saying that he needed to talk when he is the one who isn't doing any of it. How long is he going to keep all the answers to my questions in?

"No," I protested, my eyes fixed on him as he avoided to look at my direction. "I can't just forget it. And you can't expect me to understand something I don't even know yet. Dylan, I'm getting fed up with all the questions building up inside me! Questions that date back to why you kissed me, why you shutted me off, only to come back and tell me that you had feelings for me. But even after that, you stormed out as if nothing had happened. Why? Why, Dylan? Do you even know how much and how fast you changed that you didn't let anyone around you to notice it? Why are you doing that?"

"I don't know myself!" He then smacked his hand on the table, making me jump up in my seat. "I've gone through hell for the past few weeks, Aria. How am I supposed to go to someone when half of me wasn't willing to listen to my other half? Part of me wanted to keep as far away from you as possible, but the other didn't want to even think about leaving you. I struggled every second of the day, questioning myself up until my head throbbed with pain. I was having one of the worst times coping with my feelings when you came out of nowhere that day at the court and I just couldn't keep it in any longer. I blurted out whatever it was that I feeling without a second thought and after realization, I didn't want to even take a glimpse at you."

I sat there, silenced and shocked beyond belief. He had meant it, he had meant every single thing he had said. I had started to doubt it when I saw him with Danielle, but it seems like that I might be wrong after all.

"Then what brings you back, Dylan? Why are you here right now? Why are you suddenly talking to me out of nowhere, now when I have convinced myself that I need to forget you." I started to question, my voice barely audible.

He perched up at those words, as if taken by shock. "I…" He hesitated. "Aria, I've changed my mind. Running away from you didn't do shit for me, it just made everything that much worse. The more far I went, the closer you ended up coming to me. I just couldn't deal with it anymore, that's why, I took this risk of coming to you. I don't deserve it, I know, but can you just give me another chance? I won't run away this time, I already committed that mistake twice now. I don't want to repeat it again."

His eyes are locked with mine and I find myself lost in them, lost in them along with his words. No one has ever said such things to me, not even Collin. I didn't know what to think of it, what to do, I had no experience in this field. I was scared.

Was this the same fear Dylan had when he first started to develop feelings for me? Was he scared of being thrown into this mess just as I was? Was it this why he kept running?

If it was, then I completely, and wholly understand why he had done what he did.

"Aria?" His smooth voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up at him only to see that he was waiting patiently for my answer, and how all the wait was starting to get to him.

"Of course, "I sighed and nodded my head. "Of course, I'll give you a second chance. All the time without you hasn't really been a happy experience for me either." I confessed truthfully.

His eyes pull apart from their furrowed position and his body immediately relaxed down. Sighing with relief, he dropped his back to the back of his seat, as if a thousand burden was lifted off his shoulders. It almost felt like things were going back to normal. Finally.

"I promise, I won't leave you this time…or end up in jail." He looked at me, his voice going back to normal, a lot happier. "And, although I don't wanna talk about it, I can't help but think that all that happened was all my fault. If I hadn't jumped to conclusions like that, we wouldn't have had a fight, you wouldn't have stormed off alone, and neither would that prick have taken advantage of you."

Pure venom dipped from his tongue as he said the last part, followed by regret. I looked down at my fiddling hands. It was a horrifying experience, but I was willing, and had for a long time ago, to give it up and move past it. I gazed back up at him, only to see him looking out the window, deep in thought.

"It isn't your fault, Dylan." I shook my head. "It was all mine. I was the one that let Eric in, despite the fact that I could tell what kind of vibes he was giving me."

Dylan didn't say anything for a while, but then turned back to me. "How did you two even meet? I mean, I understand that night at Kenna's party, how outside though?"

"He was in my history class." I merely answered.

"Is that why you moved classes?"

I nodded.

He then grinned. "And somehow, it happened to be my class that you moved to, making everything that much harder for me to cope with it. See? I told you, the more I ran away from you, the closer you ended up coming."

"It wasn't a launching bomb on you only, I was beyond shocked too, Dylan." I snickered.

I let my eyes fall onto the table as I felt his intense gaze fixed on me. I started to burn in the inside and my cheeks were threatening to turn the color of blood soon. Even after all the time that has passed, I still can't believe that just one look from him had such an effect on me.

"You know you don't have to be scared anymore, right?" He whispered. "Your amazingly protective boyfriend will always has his eyes out for you."

I jerked up to see him grin and finally, finally do something he hadn't done in a while. He smirked. Like an actual smirk, the one he always had plastered on his face before all the crap happened, the one and only 'Dylan Sprouse' smirk.

I rolled my eyes, although a huge grin had formed itself on my cheeks. "Oh God, please don't tell me that you're gonna take us back to that."

"We can't break off our plan." He chirped.

"The goal behind that plan is already reached, there's no point for it anymore." I piped.

"I have something else in my mind." He winked again, with a very familiar glimmer in his eyes.

"And that is?" I arched my eyebrow, crossing my arms on the table.

"You'll know." He exclaimed. "Just be patient, M'lil Ar Ar."

I groaned out loud as he laughed. "Not the nickname again!"

"You know you missed it." Dylan teased.

"Please, if anything, that name is the one thing that I didn't miss about you."

Perking up, he raised his eyebrows and that's when I realized that it was too long for me to take my words back. Dammit, Aria!

Holding his head up high, he crossed his arms, flashing his smirk at me again. "So you DID miss me."

"No, I didn't. You heard wrong." I muttered quickly, inwardly cursing at myself when I looked around to avoid his eyes and actually ended up looking over at where the table the brown-haired girl was seated at, shooting killer daggers at us and digging her nails deep in her coffee cup.

"Don't deny it, you know you missed me. Say it." Dylan demanded.

"You know, Dyl, I was supposed to be meeting up with Alice and Bree before you practically kidnapped me," I stood up from the table. "I should go and so should you before that girl over there ends up killing you." I nod over at her direction. Dylan opened his mouth but then looked past me at the table.

"Fuck," He mumbled rather to himself. "I forgot Danielle was even here."

"Yeah, well good luck on your date, I have an all-girls' weekend to plan." I turned around, but he grabbed my wrist and twirled me back.

"Danielle is not my date."

A gush of relief surged through me as I heard those words escape from his mouth. Tiny tingles were shooting up my arm from where his hand was clutching onto on my wrist.

"I just went to her to distract myself away from you. But then you showed up and there's no point in doing so anymore. I…I just wanted to clear things up." He shook his head.

"Its good to know that." I smiled, and then realizing what I had said, quickly added, "You know, 'cause I didn't want to get the wrong impression."

Dylan smirked up at me. "Or that you want me all for yourself."

I rolled my eyes and groaned, "Dylan!"

"What? You missed me too after all." He continued teasing.

I reached over and took his grip away. "I didn't say that."

I turned around and walked away before he could further tease me, but he, remember, was stubborn as hell as he started to follow me.

"Why don't you just say it?" He asked.

"Why don't you just drop it?"

"I can't, its important." He then flashed a fake hurt expression. "My life would be incomplete without your answer, my lady." He grabbed my hand and pleaded.

"Then let it be left incomplete." I took my hand away and walked away as he shook his head.

"And you call me stubborn."

I chuckled and kept my pace towards the table Bree and Alice were.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow, don't take the bus!" I heard him yell as I finally flashed him a grin before he disappeared into the crowds of people. Smiling like an idiot to myself, feeling the happiest I had been in the past couple of months, I finally make it to their table only to have Bree and Alice give me blank looks through their blinking eyes.

I paused and looked questioningly between them, "What?"

Alice flashed a humongous, almost evil grin at my direction as she patted the seat next to her.

"Sit down, sweetie. You have a lot of explaining to do."

I dropped my shoulders and looked at Bree for help, but she was giving me the same evil look. Sighing, I obeyed Alice's order and plumped down next to her. There was no escaping these two.

"Wait," Alice exclaimed, placing her coffee cup down. "You two finally set things right and get back together….but without a kiss?!"

She had asked it in a way as if it was the most unbelievable thing ever. I blinked at her, "Al, why would we kiss? We're just friends."

Saying that resulted in both Bree and Alice erupting out in loud groans as they smacked their foreheads. They were staring to make me feel like I was the most stupidest person on the planet, but what had I done?

"What?" I asked, giving them both a glare.

"When are you gonna wake up? Look Aria Evans, listen to me and listen to me good, "Alice turned her entire body towards me and grabbed my shoulders. "Dylan likes you, you like Dylan, one day, you both are gonna get together, fall in love, get married and birth some really cute Arylan babies. But that ain't happening if you keep hiding your fucking feelings!" She was shaking me violently by this point, but thankfully, Bree was able to get her off before my head could fly off and land at the table across from us.

"Arylan babies?! The fuck is Arylan?" I asked, finally being able to take a breath.

"It's a combination of your name and Dylan's. I came up with Dylaria, but that just sounds like diarrhea." Alice shrugged as if it was no big deal.

I had to shake my head at her statement, "Alice, you need to calm down. You're taking things too far."

She just rolled her eyes and turned towards the window and muttered, "She's never gonna understand, I give up."

I turned to Bree to find her staring between me and Alice.

"What? Aren't you gonna call me stupid too?" I retorted at her sarcastically.

She heaved out a deep breath and began, "Aria, I'm not gonna say anything like that, however, I will say, that with what you behaved like for the past months just because Dylan left you, and how you got hurt when you saw him hugging that girl just sort of proves that you have something for him. You should just keep that in consideration the next time you're around him. Study yourself when you're with him to determine what you really feel."

I blinked my eyes and looked down, taking what she had said into thought. She was right, I need to determine what it is that I feel towards Dylan. And why this thing led me to miss him so much and get jealous when I saw him with another girl. Not to mention how my body starts to become an electric factory whenever he touches me, or how I have already dreamt of kissing him in my dreams. Of course those dreams weren't planned, but that didn't mean that they didn't serve a special meaning, right? As I thought these things, something just made me look over across the café where my eyes caught grey ones already staring back at me. His head was layed down at the back of the seat as he kept looking back at my direction. In front of him, I could see the girl (Danielle?) shouting at him. Well, at least that's what it looked like. She was standing up, her back was to me, and was behaving like someone who was giving off an angry lecture. But that wasn't what caught my attention, it was the way Dylan was looking at me. The expression on his face, the deepness of his gaze, I had never seen it before on anyone's face. It was as if, as if he was looking at the most amazing thing in the entire world.

And, suddenly, I found myself doing exactly the same. I don't remember when it was that I forgot that Bree was waiting for me to speak, or that Alice was rambling about something again, or that Danielle was just a second away from flipping the table, or that someone's baby was crying rather loudly from the table right beside us, but I did, and the whole world around me just blurred away. The only place where my line of vision was crystal clear was where Dylan was, everything around just slurred away. I can't believe, or even fathom how all this was happening, why it was happening, but that didn't change the fact that it was. That too, right at this moment.

For some reason, I started to panic inside. My nerves picked up, so did my heartbeat as my cheeks and ears burned. What was he doing to me? And more importantly, why was I letting him?

Amongst my thoughts, I saw his mouth twitch and slowly, a sly smile formed on his face. It wasn't a smirk, or grin, or anything teasing, it was a genuine smile that I had never seen him give before. And with just that one smile, I felt all the tension in my body go away. Immediately, my nerves relaxed and I calmed down. Before I even know it, I was smiling as well.

After that, it was just both of us, staring and smiling at each other for God knows what reason.

Just as the thought for actually falling for him occurred in my mind, whatever trance that we had got brutally broken off as out of nowhere, Danielle grabbed her coffee cup, poured it down Dylan's shoulder, making him jump in his seat with shock, turned around, and click-clacked her heels out of the café, managing to leave me off with eyes that could do a whole lot worse than just killing.

FINALLLYYYYY!

I will say, writing that chapter was harder than my recent geometry test, but with high hopes, here it is! I actually wrote a chapter, dropped it, wrote this one, and decided on this. I hope you all liked it!

And the name 'Arylan' and 'Dylaria' were made by jessica02 on (Sorry, don't wanna take credit for anyone's work)

If you enjoy my story, pretttttttyyyy please, VOTE AND COMMENT and also share it. I want to get it out there and can use as much as help as I can get.

With that said, remember to leave me your feedback, your prediction, what you liked, disliked, or even what your favorite food is, lol.

That's all I have to say for right now, so I guess this is it, Byeeee!


	25. Chapter 25

**I am sorry, so so sorry for the big delay! Not did I only get a writer's block, but also that school threw a ton of stuff at my direction all at the same time. The geometry test that I failed now requires me to take a retest and the workload just doubled because of that, not that any of you might care, just explaining myself here lol.**

**I hope yu hadn't thought that I had abandoned the story, did you? I would never do that! Well, I mean, I'm saying that now...but...you know what, lets just skip to the long-delayed chapter!**

**As always, I hope you like it, please vote, comment, share and stuff...**

**Dylan's P.O.V**

She broke it. She fucking broke our trance, our weird, unexplainable moment. To say that I was enraged would be an understatement of the year. Slamming the cup on the table, Danielle stormed off as I stood up from the seat, the hot coffee burning my skin through the thin material of my shirt.

People were starting to stare towards my direction and I even think a kid yelled Zack from the corner. I cursed under my breath as I tried to keep the coffee from dripping down.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Throughout my raging struggle, a handful of napkins were shoved at my direction and I looked up to meet her eyes. The blue in her irises was so piercing that for a moment, I forgot that there was a trail of a hot beverage running down my shoulder.

Snapping myself out of it, I muttered a thanks as I took the napkins and started to wipe my shirt.

"Are you ok?" Aria asked. I was sure that I could feel the hint of grin in her voice. I looked back up at her to see that she had hardened her jaw muscles and was trying her best to keep it in.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Don't torture yourself, go ahead and laugh."

And so she bursted out laughing. And ironically enough, I wasn't annoyed by it. Rather, the sight of those two dimples forming on both of her cheeks was quiet pleasing to look at.

Launching the ball of stained napkins at the trash bin nearby, I eyed at her as she struggled to get a hold of her laughter. It was worse enough to have her clutch her stomach as she bent down.

My lips twitched, but I cleared my throat to keep a stern face as I waited for Aria to simmer down.

But I failed and the next thing I knew, I was laughing along with her.

It took us a few minutes but we finally gained control over ourselves and plopped down on the seats, resting our heads on to the back of it due to the fatigue all that laughing had caused. Every trace of anger that I had before immediately swept away and I felt the happiest I had been in the last few months.

"I can't believe that she did that." Aria grinned again, smacking her hand on the table.

"I can." I said and then rubbed my eyes with my fingers. "Oh God, what was I even thinking?" I muttered rather to myself.

Giggling again, Aria pointed at the coffee streaks running down my shirt. "Didn't it burn?"

"Nah it's ok," I shrugged. "But what's not ok is that she ruined it."

"The shirt?" Aria furrowed her eyebrows. I gazed at her, at the way the dim lighting was making her skin radiant as a small smile crept up my lips.

"No, Aria. The moment we were having."

That made her look away from my eyes as I could see a hint of blush form on her already rosy cheeks. That made me smile wider, it relaxed me down from the inside. Her blushing meant that she had felt it too, whatever trance or energy that was flowing between us just moments ago. It all meant that there is a chance, a chance for her to fall for me just as I have for her.

I didn't want to be love's only victim here.

"That wasn't a moment. I was just looking at the chaos Danielle was causing." She lied. She's a terrible liar when it comes to me.

I didn't say anything, mostly because I was too infatuated by her beauty. It's been a long while since I last had taken a good long look at her. I'd forced myself to picture her face every time I tried to paint her but I had forgotten how much better it was to have her in person then just in my mind. I shouldn't have run away, it did nothing but torture me.

"Stop looking at me like that." Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I cocked my brow, "Like what?"

"Like...that." Her cheeks were still a bit crimson, confirming me with the fact that I definitely had an effect on her, even just by my eyes.

I opened my mouth to say something but was interfered by a woman who I hadn't noticed had approached our table. She was holding up her phone with one hand and holding a little boy's hand with the other.

"Hi, I'm so sorry to disturb you both, but would you mind taking a picture with my son Brian? He's a big fan." She smiled towards me.

"Sure! No problem." I said and looked at little Brian hiding behind his mom. "Hi, Brian."

I extended my hand and shyly, he shook it. I stood up as the mother slid back, holding up her phone. Brian let go of her hand and joined me for the picture, but before it could be taken, he looked up at me with a cheeky smile.

"Can your girlfriend be in it too? She's pretty." He innocently asked.

God bless this child.

"Why not?!" I questioned, grinning towards a surprised Aria as I extended my hand out for her. "She can lean on my shoulder and hide the coffee stain."

For a second, Aria gave me a glare but then shook her head and took my hand, standing up to join us for the picture.

My skin immediately shivered from the inside at the contact and made me pull her close to my side. Hesitating, she placed her hand on my shoulder, looking towards the camera in order to avoid looking at me. But I couldn't do the same, I couldn't pry my eyes off of her when we were so close.

"Ok, everybody look at the camera!" The mom chirped. Guess that was aimed towards me.

Tearing my eyes away, I flashed a smile, a genuine one, towards the camera.

"Ok! That's a good one!" The mom placed her phone down.

Before Aria could scurry away from my arms, I spoke up. "Uh, can you do me a favor and take one on my phone?"

I could feel Aria's gaze whip towards me.

"Oh of course!" The mom smiled as I fished mine out and handed it to her after going on the camera app.

Again, the three of us posed for the camera and this time, I pulled Aria even closer, my arm wrapping completely around her slim waist. This made Aria turn her face to me and our eyes locked again, our faces only inches apart. Gosh, my ears were starting to throb due to my speeding heart rate. If this was just the effect of close proximity, then I can't even comprehend what actually getting to kiss her would do to me. The thought was both scary and exhilarating at the same time.

"Alright, there you go!" The mom interrupted, making Aria break our trance and look away as we finally let go of each other.

"Here you go." She handed me my phone. I thanked her and took it, glimpsing at the photo to see that it was only mine and Aria's, Brian was cut out from it. Surprised, I looked back up at the woman to see her smiling at me. So I thanked her again, this time, really emphasizing it.

After a few minutes of signing an autograph for little Brian and saying goodbye to both the son and his mom, I turned back to Aria. She was looking at me, her arms crossed across her chest.

"You're a sneaky piece of shit, you know that?" She shook her head at me.

"Absolutely." I grinned, placing my hand on her back as we turned around and started making our way towards the exit doors. earning a chuckle from her.

"So where are we going?"

"Anywhere you wan-"

My sentence was left hanging as both Bree and Alice suddenly emerged in front of us, crossing their arms and blocking our way.

"Not that fast, love birds." Alice perked, looking between me and Aria. "We still go a girls' weekend to plan."

I groaned, scowling and throwing my head back. Were they seriously going to do that to me?

"But we just got back together!" I whined, earning a raised eyebrow from Aria. "...as friends." I added.

"You know, I don't understand the whole 'friends' part in that." Alice gushed.

Yeah I didn't either.

"Anyways, we gotta go," Alice grabbed Aria's wrist and pulled her away from me. "See Ya later, Alligator."

Bree chuckled and the group scurried away in the opposite direction.

"Don't forget that I'm picking you up tomorrow!" I called after them.

Bree whipped her head around,flashing me a smirk. "Goodbye, lover boy."

Aria shook her head and face palmed, making me chuckle as the girls disappeared amongst the crowd of people and I finally forced myself to exit the cafe.

Today, has been a good day.

...

Man, it was perfect. We were perfect. Just fucking look at the pic. I owed that woman a lot for capturing this moment and for picking up quickly with what was going on. Don't get me wrong, that Brian was all cute and stuff, but I just wanted us to be in this picture.

To think, we did make a very pretty cute couple. I can't believe at the way that I'm looking at her in it, like some sort of a lovesick person.

I've never looked at anyone this way.

I've never felt this way about anyone this way either.

"Thought you'd be doing your homework right now instead of playing on your phone, Dyl." A deep voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked towards the door to my room to see my dad standing there, leaning on it looking at me.

I sat up from my bed and immediately turned my phone off.

"Dad," I huffed. "I-I was just about to start on it."

Dad walked in and sat down on the foot of my bed, scowling slightly at how messy my room was.

"So, what brings you here so late?" I asked, trying to get his attention back.

He turned to face me again. "Oh, I wanted to talk you about school..." He scratched the back of his neck.

I gulped, for the past few days, I've heard dad talk to Drey about giving me an on-set tutoring. I was totally against it. Things had literally just started getting better with Aria and now is not the time to separate is again.

"So, I heard from the school that the guy you had gotten in trouble with would be coming back tomorrow..." Dad turned his eyes back to mine, just in time to see how stiff my body immediately became at the mention of that prick.

I looked away, trying to withhold the anger from showing in order to avoid giving that much more reason to worry my dad into dropping me out of public school. Just his mention boiled every fucking cell in my blood. He had touched, forced his self on Aria. My Aria.

And then started to spread that shit to his friends, calling her all sorts of nasty things she was not.

I would've killed him right there and then, and was about to too, if it wasn't for those fucking teachers.

"Dylan." Dad's stern voice jolted me out of my thoughts, making me look back at him. His eyes were studying me and by the looks of it, I knew he could exactly what was going through my mind.

"Why do I feel as if I would regret sending you to school tomorrow?" He questioned.

"What?!" I nearly yelled. My dad blinked, surprised at my sudden outburst. I quickly cleared my throat to calm myself down.

"Dad, don't worry, I won't do anything. I have to go to school tomorrow." I argued as the image of Aria from that night flashed through my mind. She was so broken, so hurt while I just stood there and watched the whole show. I wasn't there for her that night, no way was I going to commit that mistake again.

I won't leave her to deal with that monster all alone again.

"Why is it that you wanna go when clearly I can I already see you losing your temper?" Dad furrowed his eyebrows at me.

I sighed. How am I supposed to explain this situation to him?

"Dad..." I tried to form any words. "...I have to there...for someone."

Dad stayed silent for a bit, not saying anything.

"Are you hiding something from me, Dyl? Is there something I should be aware of thats coming between you and your education?" He then questioned.

I didn't say anything, mostly because I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to tell him about Aria and my feelings towards her up until I make sure that she feels the same for me. Neither did I want to share what that fucking bastard had done to her.

I still didn't know exactly what had happened that night, and I didn't want to either. At least not now when the fire from the rage was still alive inside me.

"There's..." I started, but couldn't finish.

Dad took a deep breath and then patted my shoulder.

"I know you very well, Dylan. You can come to me whenever you're ready to talk about this. But as of now, I need you to keep yourself under control. If any funny business happens tomorrow, then I'm finalizing your education to tutoring on set, is that understood?" He asked.

I looked down, and muttered a yes.

"Alright then, now do your work and go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning." Dad patted my shoulder again and then soon exited, closing the door behind him.

Something always has to come to ruin things every time don't they? I had so many things planned for tomorrow, when I finally will be able to spend my time with her.

What would she even think when she finds out that Eric was going to be back? What would we both do tomorrow? She would be struggling to face that monster and I would be struggling to keep myself from murdering him.

Ah, it's going to be an adventure.

...  
Sorry, again! For the delay!  
But im sick and gonna be in bed most of the time, which means I might update sooner, hopefully!

Anyways, what did you guys think?


	26. Chapter 26

**Spring Break has ended and I have absolutely nothing to look forward to up until summer. :(**

**Anyways, I know I said I would update earlier but I'm sorry, I got addictive to catching up with The Vampire Diaries and literally spent like three days finishing up season 4 and 5, but better late than never, right?**

**So, onto the story, before you start, I want you all to relax down, grab some Mountain Dew or something, and take a deep breath. **

**This chapter is special ;)**

**Thanks and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Aria's POV**

Every high school kid knows how torturing it is to wake up so damn early just to go deal with pissed off teachers and boring lessons, but you know what's even more painful than that?

I'll tell you, having to listen to the agonizingly loud and squeaky screaming of your annoying and unwanted sister.

"I got in! I got in! I got in!" She was yelling at the top of her lungs as me and mom watched her from the dining table where we were doing breakfast. Mom chuckled at Zoey's little dance while I was trying hard not to launch the glass of juice on her fucking face. Just five minutes ago, everything was quiet and peaceful. That is, up until Zoey went over to check the mail and destroyed it upon reading a letter she had received from the Hollywood Center Studios.

After a few more minutes, she finally stumbled back to her seat, breathless.

"Mom, aren't you just so proud of me? My dream is finally coming true!" She sang, throwing her arms up. I slammed my spoon down in my cereal bowl and got up to throw the half-eaten Cheerios out, not with holding the power to tolerate anymore. I just have to get out of here, here where I might have the chance of loosing my hearing.

"Yes, sweet heart, I am very proud, but first tell me what it is that I'm so proud of?" I heard mom ask as I turned the faucet on.

"I got accepted for a role on a Disney Channel Tv show!" Zoey squeaked.

Mom gasped, "Oh Darling, that's amazing!"

I rolled my eyes again.

"What show did you get in?" Mom asked as I started to wash the bowl.

"Oh its called The Suite Life On Deck." Zoey answered, her voice now sounding rather calm and attacking. "I got the role of Maya Bennett, _Zack's girlfriend._"

The soap filled bowl immediately slipped out of my hands and landed in the sink with a loud sound as I just momentarily froze upon hearing those words.

Zack's girlfriend?

"Aria?" Mom's voice jolted me out. "Are you ok?"

I quickly picked up the bowl, "Yeah, I'm fine, mom."

Speed washing through it, I placed it away and dried my hands off. Why was I being bothered by the fact that my own sister was going to act girlfriend with my...whatever he is. Now that I think about it, what exactly is Dylan to me? A friend? A best friend? Perhaps something more?

"Fortunately, mom. Aria is dating the guy who plays Zack Martin." Zoey continued.

"Dating?" Mom looks over at me. "Oh honey, you didn't tell me that you two were back together!"

Gosh, please not right now. The image of that conversation I had with my mom flashed inside my mind and I felt my cheeks starting to burn up. I was so vulnerable, so broken at that moment that now I can't believe it.

I wanted to tell mom that we weren't dating, but since Zoey was in the same room, I didn't want to risk revealing our secret of fake dating. Not that I even knew if it was still on or not.

"But wait," Mom then interrupted, looking between me and Zoey. "Does that mean that both of my daughters will be with the same guy at the same time?"

Neither of us said anything as our eyes locked into a heated trance of shooting daggers. Zoey had this twinkle in her eyes, something that made her look rather proud of herself, as if she had accomplished way much more than her dream of becoming an actress. And I felt rather uncomfortable at that.

"Well, this is going to be interesting." Mom chimed, flashing a fake smile as she stood up to put her dishes away.

"Well, I better be off to work. I have a lot of celebrity requests for designing dresses for the upcoming KCA awards. I'll be back around dinner, study hard at school!" She went ahead and kissed both mine and Zoey's cheek before leaving.

I glared at Zoey one last time before I set the dish rag in my hand on the counter and started to exit the kitchen when Zoey grabbed my arm.

"You don't have to pretend," she smirked. "I know about you and Dylan and your fake show of dating. So, I just wanted to give you a heads up, if you don't want him like that, then back off because I'm going to make my moves on him, on and off screen." With a batter of her fake eyelashes and another smirk, she grabbed her pink purse from the table and her car keys and finally danced her hips out the front door.

"Arghh!" I growled, anger building up fast inside me. What did she even think of herself?! Make her moves on Dylan? Why does she always has to aim to snatch away the things that are mine? Why can't she just fucking get a hint and leave me and my life alone? Why did she even have to try for a role on his show? On his out of all the other?

And why the fuck did I just call Dylan mine?

Groaning and shaking my head in annoyance, I stormed out the kitchen and climbed the stairs to my room. What was supposed to be a good day was already ruined, thanks to my dear sister.

Seeing that I had a little over twenty minutes to get ready for school, I decided to take a quick shower. After that, I tied my dark hair up in a messy bun, leaving a few strands out. Next, I threw on my black embellished sweater with white collar shirt beneath it and paired it off with my red plaid jeggings, completing the whole outfit with my studded black boots. Seeing as my eyes looked rather dull and empty, I decided to add mascara and a short-winged eyeliner.

I reached for my bag just in time to hear a car honk come from outside. I rushed out and stepped out of the house, locking the door behind me.

My heart fluttered slightly as Dylan flashed me one of his smile as I took my seat and closed the door. It's been a long while since I last had been in his car, or had seen those green-gray eyes.

It felt oddly calming.

"Hey."

"Hey." I smiled back.

"How did the whole girl weekend thing go yesterday?" He asked, pulling out of the driveway and into the street.

I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to remember exactly what we had talked out that, well they had talked about it. I was just there, listening to Bree and Alice rant about whatever they were talking about. To think, I don't really recall paying that much attention.

"Guess that means you forgot," Dylan grinned. "Or perhaps you didn't pay attention at all."

"I was paying attention!" I protested but he just glimpsed towards me with a cocked eyebrow.

I sighed, "Ok fine, I wasn't. Girls weekend thing isn't what I do a lot."

"Then drop it and me and you can both go somewhere to hang. We have a lot of catching up to do and this weekend is the only one I have off. The KCAs are coming up and the work is going to get really busy, I might not even go to school next week." Dylan exclaimed.

"KCAs? Yeah, my mom mentioned something about designing outfits for them." I mumbled incoherently.

"Gianna Evans, right?" Dylan chimed and I nodded. "There are honorable mentions of her constantly in the Hollywood realm. You know, she might even get invited to the KCAs?"

My eyes widened. "What? Really?"

"Yep. And if that happens, you know what else happens?"

"What?"

"You and your sister might get invited too. Which will probably happen since she got selected for our show."

I rolled my eyes, leaning on the back of the seat. "Ugh, don't remind me."

"Why?" He smirked and I could already see what was coming. "Too bothered by the fact that she'll be playing as my girlfriend?"

"You wished."

Dylan chuckled. "Don't have to when it already happened."

"The only reason why I might even care is that she's going to bring hell to your suite little set." I retorted.

"And because you just don't want me to suffer through it since you care about me so much." Dylan shot back as we stopped at his usual parking spot at school.

I shook my head and smiling grabbed my bag, "You're too full of it today, aren't you?" With that, I stepped out as he followed pursuit, the slight chill of February air slapping our faces.

"And you," Dylan started as he caught up with me. "Try too hard to hide your feelings."

Some passing by people had started to stare so Dylan threw his arm around my shoulder pulling me close as we continued our trail to the red brick building.

"Yeah, feelings that don't exist." I snorted with a grin.

"You're always in denial, Aria Evans, always in denial..." Dylan sang as I rolled my eyes and chuckled. Whether he was being serious or joking around right now didn't matter. The morning was off to a very good start and I didn't want anything to ruin it.

Indulging into our own useless little bickering, we made our way to the lockers. But instead of taking me to mine, Dylan grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the other hallway where his locker was.

"Um, I need my history book...?" I questioned, confused at what had suddenly gotten to him. He opened his locker and frantically looking around as if trying to keep away from someone.

"Dylan?"

He shoved his history book in his bag and finally turned to me. "We can't go to your locker, just use mine." With that, he started to lead me towards our history class in a hurry, as if to get away from something. Or at least get me away from something.

Since Dylan had dragged me to class this early, no one was in the classroom except the teacher, who eyed us both as we squirmed our way to the back. I plopped down in my seat and Dylan lazily slipped into the seat right next to mine, the one that belonged to Stephanie.

Ignoring the rather stalkerish gaze of our teacher, I turned to Dylan, whose head was now leaning back and hanging down the back of the chair, his eyes closed and his shiny bronze hair falling in them. If it wasn't for his recent odd behavior or the teacher, this moment would have been very peaceful.

"Enjoy what you see?" Dylan's voice interrupted my thoughts, his eyes still closed.

How had he known that I was staring?

Unintentionally, I mean.

"How did you...?" I asked.

Dylan then opened his eyes and sat up, crossing his arms and squinting, "I don't know. Its like I can feel you staring at me, it's weird."

I heard what he had said but for a second, I was totally mesmerized by the color of his eyes. How can gray and green ever mix?!

But before he could throw another teasing comment at my face, I snapped out of it.

"Well, you felt wrong." I exclaimed. "I wasn't staring, I was just thinking and didn't realize that I was looking at your direction."

"There you go again on your denying." Dylan shook his head and say up once people started to slowly pile in.

I turned back to Dylan. "Hey, why didn't you let me go to my locker?"

Dylan didn't turn to me and just shook his head and waved it off. "It was nothing."

Now even more confused then before, I blinked and let it go. He wasn't going to tell me, it was obvious.

Soon enough, Stephanie danced her hips inside the classroom, her heels booming over the sound of people talking and settling in their seats. As she approached the back, a hint of confusion flashed across her makeup caked face upon seeing Dylan in her seat but it was soon replaced with a grin.

"Hey, Dylan." She greeted, rather seductively if you asked me. "What are you doing in my seat?"

She then leaned down and placed her elbow on his desk, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at Dylan.

I gripped my hands, clearly not liking the closeness. And on top of that, even i could see how revealing her top was from where I was sitting. Don't ask me why, but I apparently was not comfortable with Dylan being flashed by another girl.

Thankfully though, Dylan leaned back and flashed one of his smirks, looking up at her, not down below.

"Steph," He spoke. "Would you mind if I sit here, please?" He then grabbed her hand with both of his, pretending to be sincere. I could see through his act so well that I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from bursting out laughing. Stephanie bought it however, her flashing an expression of being smitten at how he was holding her hand.

"Of course not. Whats mine is yours." She cooed, bending down to probably flash him again. By this time, I wasn't struggling to laugh, I was struggling to keep from gagging at how disgusting the whole site was. As the bell rang and teacher called for everyone's attention, she finally sashayed her way to Dylan's seat and dropped down, keeping her body facing Dylan's direction.

Dylan looked at me with an expression that read "Phew" and I just shook my head. Girls would seriously do anything he asks them just because of his fame and face. The couldn't disrespect themselves more than that.

"Ok, class." The teacher's voice boomed in front of the class. "Today, we'll be talking about..."

And I zoned out.

When had I ever been the studios type?

...

For the rest of the day, Dylan had insisted on dropping me off to all of my classes, even though it meant that he would be late to his. I convinced him otherwise. I didn't want him to get in trouble the first day we started talking again. I don't wanna be the reason behind all his troubles. The jail had exceeded all limits and it was time to put a stop to it.

After much insisting, he finally gave up and let me go, although I could clearly see that he was hesitant and unsure about it. I couldn't help but think that he was being superbly protective of me, as if to stay with me to keep me safe but wouldn't tell me from what. He kept looking around the hallway as if to find someone, someone to get away from and to not being seen by. I found it quite odd and was itching to just ask him about it, but didn't because, again, I didn't want to ruin our day.

Towards the middle of the day, I found out exactly why.

Me and Bree were on our way to Alice's locker to pick her up for lunch when we crossed our paths with somebody. Somebody who's face made me freeze like a statue in the middle of my tracks. Somebody who had served as the core reason behind everything wrong that had happened for the past few months. Somebody that disgusted me to the depths of my soul.

Eric actually had the same expression as mine. His eyes widened as he saw me, and he too, froze. From my peripheral line of vision, I could see Bree looking between us two before she went ahead and joined my side, protectively. She was about to pull me away when Eric took a step towards us, approaching us. My heart immediately accelerated. He then opened his mouth to say something, but before anything could come out, a fist shot out of nowhere and thrashed him square in the jaw, the impact forcing him to fall a few steps back as he bent down and gripped his jaw, groaning.

The next thing, Alice was standing in front of us, her arms crossed and hip popping out as she glared at Eric.

"Go anywhere near my friends and I'll send you back to the hospital. This time, permanently." She spat in his face. Turning to us, she grabbed both of our arms and practically dragged us to the cafeteria.

"Let's go, I'm starving." She exclaimed.

Bree snorted, "When are you not?"

And just like that, the mood settled back and all the tension was gone. This was all that I needed, people who cared about me and were willing to protect me. No reason to bloat on those who weren't even now worth a penny in my eyes.

That afternoon, Dylan had asked a ton of questions as we drove home. I'd figured that he had known Eric would be back this whole, that would explain his behavior in the morning. I, however, did not tell him that I had crashed paths with that monster, only because that would worry him even more and he would start asking a bazillion questions, I didn't want that.

Since he had work today, we parted our ways when we arrived home and I would say, I was a little disappointed.

I wanted to spend more time with him.

...

"I can't fuckin' wait till I try these babies on!" Alice exclaimed as she held up her newly-bought black combat boots with big studs. "They scream badass."

From the other side of my room, Bree was holding up a peach dress in front of her, checking herself out in the floor-to-wall length mirror.

"Hey guys, would this dress go with a belt or not?" She asked, looking at us through the mirror. Alice looked over at her direction and scowled, making a face.

"Ugh, that color is making me vomit. I'd suggest you not wear it all." She sneered as Bree rolled her eyes.

Today was Saturday and we had gladly spent the entire day shopping at the mall, one of to-do list of the girls' weekend. Bree and Alice had made me walked so much that now my legs were too sore for any other movement as I was nestled in the bean bag, flipping through the channels. Both of them had brought a ton of stuff, and i only bought a couple things. Mostly, I was busy stuffing my face from the food court, which was where I kept forcing Bree and Alice to go to. I was totally shocked at how they could still be so energetic.

Don't get me wrong, I love my friends but this whole weekend thing was starting to annoy me as I kept glancing at the window across from mine.

"Hey, do you guys know what we should do next?" Bree wiggled her eyebrows, turning around and beaming us with a huge smile. Me and Alice waited.

"Fun facial masks!" She threw her hands up and I groaned.

"What?" Bree asked. "We're girls, we love to pamper ourselves and my skin could really use some rosewater rinse."

Alice squinted and touched her cheek, running it down. "Eh, I could use some cleansing."

"Please, do we have to?" I groaned again, frowning.

"Yes, we have to." Bree grabbed my arm and I was soon being dragged downstairs to the kitchen.

"I don't wanna look like a zombie," I whined but it was left ignored as the both of them started to fish out the ingredients.

I rested my elbows on the island and watched the two do their thing when suddenly, Alice's phone started ringing. She washed her hands and answered, walking out into the living room. I turned back to Bree to see Rabat she was looking at me with a cheeky grin.

"What?" I asked.

"I know why you're not into this," she whispered.

"Yeah? Enlighten me." I crossed my arms.

"Well, he's a guy, and his name sounds something like Sylan Drouse, didn't it?" She squinted and then giggled as I narrowed my eyes at her and shook my head.

I opened my mouth but right then Alice stepped in.

"Hey guys, sorry I have to bail out on you." She exclaimed, going over to the coat closet to retrieve her jacket.

"Wait, what? Why?" I asked.

"My stupid brother got really sick and my mom got an urgent call from work so she has to go. There's no one else at home so she's asking me to go home and take care of him." She explained as she sat down on the stair and started wearing her shoes.

"Can't your brother take care of himself, what is he, 5?" Bree walked over to her, forgetting about the facial mixture she was working on.

"Actually, he's 8 so I have to go." Alice stood up and looked at us apologetically. "Sorry guys, I didn't mean to ruin this, i promise I'll make it up to both of you."

"Don't worry about it." I assured her.

"Yeah, hope your brother gets well soon." Bree smiled as well.

Soon, Alice had left and me and Bree had the whole house left to us.

"Now what?" I asked, popping a strawberry in my mouth as Bree went back to her facial.

"We're still doing the facials, Aria. And then, we're gonna take selfies with them on and post it on Instagram."

I groaned as she smiled her evil smile.

After a few minutes, I gave up and decided to start on my facial mixture. But just as I stood up, the door bell rang. Walking over, I opened it to find a familiar blonde hair, gray-eyed twin.

Cole smiled at me. I noticed he was all dressed up.

"Hey, Cole!" I greeted. "What're you doing here?"

"Hey, Aria! I'm here to pick up my girlfriend for our date?" He looked passed my shoulders as Bree walked over to us.

"What, I told you I was canceling for the girls weekend." She exclaimed.

"And I told you that I wasn't giving you a choice." Cole mimicked her.

"Cole!" Bree whined.

"Oh come on! I told you I would be too busy with KCAs next week! I only have today and tomorrow off! Baby come on!" Cole begged and then turned to me. "Aria, tell her."

"Umm..." I looked at Bree and then at Cole's pleading eyes, in which I saw Dylan's. They weren't exactly identical but they sure as hell had some very resembling parts. "Bree, maybe he's right. You're just wasting your time here, and I'm not even into these things, you should go with him and have fun."

"But-" Bree started.

"I got you flowers." Cole cooed, bring out a bouquet of pink roses from his back.

"Ugh!" Bree grunted. "Why do you have to be so damn cute?"

Cole chuckled and reached over to peck her lips.

"So, what do you say?" He asked again. Bree hesitated and then looked at me.

"Aria-"

"Oh don't worry, Aria is going to be busy in a while too." Cole interrupted as I quizzically looked at him.

He charmed a smile towards me and winked. "You'll see."

"And you," he turned to Bree, wrapping an arm around her to pull her close. "Are coming with me no matter what."

Bree rolled her eyes but smiled as she started to get her stuff. She gave me a hug before both of them left.

I hadn't gotten even ten steps away from the door when the bell rang yet again. Sighing, I went over and opened it, just to come in contact with his sparkling eyes.

He flashed me one of his smirks, the one that can make you weak in the knees. "Hey, there beautiful."

"Dylan? What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to ignore how shiny his hair looked under the dim porch light.

"Here to relieve you of your misery." He said, stepping in as I closed the door. "Your misery of being all alone in your house on a weekend."

"Well, Bree and Alice were her up until-"

"I got rid of them with my master planning?" He broke in, smirking again.

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Who do you think forced Cole out of bed to go on a date with his girlfriend?"

"But then Alice-"

"Oh yeah, that, I didn't do anything, it was just fate doing a favor to me."

I looked at him and shook my head, eventually breaking out into a grin. "You're unbelievable."

I walked passed him into the kitchen as he followed.

"Wait, till you find out what I've planned for us."

"What?"

"There's this carnival that opened close to where I work and it looked really fun, so go and get ready, it closes in two hours."

"We're going to a carnival?" I asked.

"Yeah, now hurry! There's traffic and we don't have much time!"

"But I'm too tired from the mall!" I whined like a kid.

"Then I'll throw you on my back and carry you there if I have to."

My eyes widened, I looked at him. "Seriously?"

He gave an evil nod.

I squirmed over to the stairs, getting as far away from him as possible. "No, you won't!"

"Don't make me do this, Aria." He warned, a hint of tease twinkling in his eyes. Warning bells rang inside my head. He wouldn't actually do that, would he?

I took one step up as he took one step closer, his face still plastered with that smirk which was now looking much more sinister.

Without giving him the chance to walk any closer, I sprinted up yelling, "Stay away from me!"

I could hear his footsteps and knew he would catch up so I ran into my room and tried to close the door only to have his hand stop it.

"Dylan, don't you dare!" I yelled as I jumped on top of my bed grabbing the first thing and launching at him.

I gasped as I realized what I had thrown at him. My Teddy Bear!

"No! Not Coco the Cuddly bear!" I exclaimed in horror.

Grabbing it just in time before it hit his face, Dylan squinted at me. "You have a teddy bear? Really Aria?"

I extended my hand. "Give Coco back to me, Dylan."

"Or what?" He challenged and then grabbed Coco's head and smoothed it down his cheek. "Hmm...he's so soft."

I rolled my eyes.

"You know what?" He then perked. "Forget you, Imma just take Coco the Cuddly bear with me."

"What?! No! You'll hurt him!" I protested but Dylan ignored me and lazily walked out my room. I jumped down and ran after him. As I approached the stairs where Dylan was, I saw Coco and that's all I saw before launching for him, but in the process, I tripped on the stair.

Before I could roll down the flight of stairs, I jerked forward as a very strong arm looped around my lower stomach and stopped me from dropping face first on the wooden surface.

My breath hitched as a sharp gasp escaped my mouth as I looked up. My heart was thumping hard against my chest. It wasn't fast, it was slow just like the time had become as my eyes came in contact with his, blue against green. My body was pressed against his, the arm still clutched around my stomach. I could feel the slight almost non-existent shiver in hi fingers. It was as if he was itching to just clutch my shirt. My breathing eventually stopped as his gaze dropped down to my lips and his parted, but within a second, it was back up to my eyes, twinkling with a thousand expressions.

"Aria," I could feel his warm breath due to our close proximity. "I'm going to drop Coco down..."

That's when I remembered Coco and found Dylan's other arm extended over the railing, his hand gripping Coco's head. Knowing that there was a fish aquarium right below, I knew that if Dylan let go of him, he would drop down in it. Panicked, I turned back to Dylan, a little surprised as I realized he was much closer now, his eyes filled with a mysterious glimmer.

"You won't" my voice came out as a weak whisper, a tingle was seeping up my spine making me shiver.

He grinned, "I do have an effect on you. Now, about Coco-"

"Don't dro-"

"I won't." He cut in. "Only if I get something first." His voice was undeniably teasing as my heartbeat accelerated.

"And what is that?" I choked out breathlessly as his eyes dropped down to my lips again. He leaned in, I froze, he closed his eyes, I closed mine and before I know it, there's this warm, soft movement against my lips. It's slow, cautious, and dangerously hungry. It has now intensified the previous tingles into warm shivers running up my spine. The feeling is so pleasuring, so enchanting that the next thing I knew, I had started to kiss him back. That was all of a hint he needed before his arm around me tightened, fingers digging into my skin, as he pulled me closer and kissed me harder. My hands wandered to his shoulders as the kiss started to become urgent, much more needed.

I didn't want to think what my usual, rational self would have thought right now, this was too good, too fascinating to let go of. I didn't want it to stop as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Within a second, Dylan shifted his position, me along with him, as he collided my back with the wall, his starving lips never leaving mine.

What was I doing? Why is this happening? I can't believe this, I'm making out with a guy, a celebrity.

The kiss was growing the lack of oxygen between the both of us and his lips eventually left mine, only to start their trail down my jaw and neck. I ad to resist making any sound. My legs were becoming weaker by the second and I was grateful of his arm around me, holding me up.

"I swear, I've wanted this so bad." He whispered huskily in my ear, making me shiver. I finally managed to open up my eyes. I spotted Coco on the floor. This was...I can't believe...what am I...

Defeated, my hands went up to Dylan's face as I cupped his cheeks and pulled him back a little, faces only an inch apart. His lips were now plump and crimson, had my kissing done that?

"What are you doing to me?" I looked in his eyes.

He grinned, "The question is, what are _you_ doing to _me_?"

I looked down, shaking my head to process everything, my hands dropping down to rest on his shoulders. "This...this is crazy."

Dylan went ahead and tipped my chin back up by placing his finger under, alluring me with those shimmery eyes of his again.

"I know, it is crazy. Its so crazy that it doesn't let me think straight, Aria. You scare me, but intoxicate me at the same time. I swear, I've never felt like this ever before."

I was speechless, I didn't know what to say. The way he was looking at me right now affirmed that he was serious.

"Dyl- I.." I tried.

"And I know you feel the same way." He stepped back, withdrawing. "You just don't realize it or deny them because they're too hard to believe but trust me, I was once at that stage too. And I promise you, once you finally do accept them, they will completely change you till you don't have any control over your emotions."

I gulped, never taking my eyes off of him. His words were leaving me in a shock, they were so strong, so sincere.

"And how...how do you accept them?" I found myself asking.

Dylan looked at me with adoration before a small smile perched upon his still-plumped lips.

He extended his hand, "Come with me."

I looked at it and then back up to him, I could feel my ears starting to heat up. But seeing that face of his again, with those killing eyes and that alluring smile, I knew that I could trust him.

A small smile formed on my lips as well as I reached over and placed my hand in his, his fingers immediately tightening around it.

I guess I was up for a new adventure.

...

Wow that was a very long chapter, my longest actually and

I just couldn't keep the romance away for too long, it was killing me!

But I am dying to know your reactions! Share your thoughts with me! I wanna hear and would try to reply!

Remember to vote! Love you all!


	27. Chapter 27

WARNING: Things are changing, just to give you a heads up. :)

ARIA'S POV

People change, all the time. Usually, the change is occurred due to gaining more maturity as they grow up and usually, it's for the best. In my case, yes, yes me, Aria Evans, has changed. The only problem is that I don't know whether it was for the best or not. And I say that because my change has both a side that intrigues me and a side that fears me to death. I've always been that conservative type of a girl who never let any outsider come too close to her, mostly because I'm weak and wouldn't be able to handle it in the end if that same person ended up hurting me and taking advantage of me. It's this fear that kept me from admitting my feelings, had me go in a denial, and made me deaf to the screaming of my own heart that I like him.

I'm finally saying it out loud, not only to you, but to myself as well.

I can no longer find any more excuses to not like him, to find any more reasons to tell myself that I only see him as a friend. Especially not after I've seen the way he has an effect on me. How his touch sends warm shivers to every cell of my body, how his smirk makes my heart do jumping jacks and how his goddamn eyes never fail to allure me away from the rest of the world.

Fuck, this wasn't supposed to happen.

I wasn't supposed to let my walls down.

Fuck.

"Aria!"

I jumped in my seat and looked up, my mom staring down at me as she motioned towards Zoey. Still lost in my own thoughts, I turned towards her to see that she was twirling around in a puffy pink dress, scowling at the mirror once she realized that she looked like Barbie's shit in it.

"No, mom. I don't like it. Give me that green one, it has a good bodice." She turned around as mom handed her the other dress. I rolled my eyes and slumped back down in my seat, way beyond frustrated that mom had dragged me to come shopping with her and Zoey for the KCAs. So far, we had been to at least four different boutiques and Zoey had tried and rejected about gazillions of dresses, making not only me, but the store clerks aggravated as well. I don't see how mom can even put up with her.

"Honey, aren't you gonna get up and look around for your dress?" Mom asked, taking a seat at the sofa adjacent to the one I was sitting on. I crossed my arms,, resting my head at the top of the seat's back. Dylan kept flooding in and out of my mind and it was a struggle to concentrate on anything else let alone looking for a dress.

"Mom, do I really have to go?" I sighed, having asked her that same question about a million times.

"Yes, Aria. You absolutely have to go to share the moment with mine and your sister's success. Now get up, look around for dresses." She answered, leaning over to grab a fashion magazine from the small table that was set in front of us.

I looked around the big boutique, dresses littering the rack everywhere of various colors and designs. I didn't see any that caught my eye, but then really, I wasn't paying that much attention, all thanks to a certain someone. Having my butt gone numb for sitting for so long, I finally stood up to take a walk around the store. The clerk had gotten busy with some other customers and I could hear Zoey coming out of the changing rooms with yet another complain of how something was always wrong with the dresses. Maybe I should go over to the wall in the corner and continuously bang my head on it...

But before I could think further into the thought, my phone buzzed inside my pocket and I saw that it was a text message from Dylan. My heart leaped inside my chest and I had to curse it for doing that just over a simple text message. How much more pathetic can I get?

**If the whole dress shopping is killing you, y'know you can always come here and give me company during my breaks, right?**

I chuckled as I started typing, no wonder he would know my mood right now, its as if he can read my mind even from afar.

**If u hadn't talked my mom into taking me to KCAs in the first place, you know I wouldn't be dying right now, right?**

I hit reply and walked further around from any eye-shots from mom. She would definitely question why the hell I was smiling like an idiot towards my phone.

When the KCA invitations came around, my mom had given me the choice to go or not, she knew very well that I wasn't the kind to dress up and go to such events. But with my luck, Dylan had tricked her into changing her opinion the next day when he came to pick me up when we had planned to go grab some coffee before he had to leave again for work.

I don't know what the hell he had said to her, but the moment I came downstairs after grabbing my jacket and phone, mom practically started rambling on how I should definitely go and cherish the special moment with my family. I was shocked, looking at her weird as to why she had changed so quickly, but seeing Dylan's smirk from the corner of my eye answered my question.

**Oh, come on, u know u wanna walk down the carpet with my arm around you. Now stop complaining and bring your ass over here, I'm bored af.**

Now, I've skipped through a lot. Let me rewind back a little.

After our much heated make-out session at the top of my stairs, Dylan had taken me to the carnival like he had intended from the beginning. The whole ride there was filled with me blushing as the constant thought of our kiss came flashing back to my mind. It was a disbelievingly bold action on my part to actually kiss him back, leading both of us to turn it that much heated, but that's what Dylan does to me, he makes me do things that I would never believe that I ever could do before. Anyways, when we got there, we only had an hour left before its closing but that didn't stop Dylan as he grabbed my hand the second we were out the car and pulled me in, paying for the both of us.

As much as I hate to admit it, it was actually very fun. We went on as much rides as we could and Dylan even won a game that earned him a huge teddy bear half the size of a human being. He had proudly handed it over to me. Cliche, I know, but at least now Coco has a friend. One particular moment from that night though is when we were at the top of the ferris wheel. I was too astonished, too stunned with the view of the brightly lit city that was LA that I hadn't noticed that Dylan was just sitting there, staring at me rather than the view. After pointing out so many things and not getting a simple response from him, I whipped my head to finally acknowledge that his eyes, those stotmy grey eyes that were glimmering even more in the moonlight, were solely fiaxated on me. His lips were pulled into a sly, almost comforting smile. It was the most peaceful I had ever seen him in the past few months, so I had to question it. For a few quiet seconds, he didn't say anything. But once he finally had, brings us both to what we are now.

"Aria, after what happened earlier, there's no doubt in me anymore that I like you, a whole lot more than I should." His voice was velvety as it mixed with the slight breeze. Immediately I forget about the entire world around me as my cheeks had started to burn as a gush of warm feeling surged through my every vein at those words.

He said he liked me. He had finally said it out loud.

"But," He had continued, "I don't want that to become the reason to jeopardize what we do have. I can see that you're confused and you don't know what to do, and considering that I was once in that position, I don't want to push anything on you. So that's why I won't outwardly ask you out on a date or to be my girlfriend..." His eyes came boring into mine again and I found my heart accelerating as our ride started to descend back down.

"At least, not yet." His smirk, that trademark smirk of his, danced across his lips which made me smile as well. "And don't you dare think of me as just a friend anymore."

He then winked, and I almost flew off to cloud nine with all the unfamiliar, but warm emotions building up inside me.

I didn't sleep that night. At all. I kept thinking of the kiss, the feeling of his lips on mine. Who knew a simple action of lip-lock could do such a thing to you? I had cuddled Coco tight that night, smiling at how sincere Dylan had sounded on the Ferris wheel. No one had said such words to me, and it was about time that I start realizing that things between us two were not in the friend zone anymore. They were getting serious.

I was getting serious. I was starting to become too attached to him, we spent all of our time together, except when he had to go off o work, then we would call and text whenever he was on break. Sometimes, he would call me over and him being him, I always gave in and that's how the set started to become our new hangout place, not only that, but I was starting to meet the cast there too. All in all, things have changed drastically in the past few days. The KCAs were on Sunday, and today was Friday, so there was no wonder that everyone was going hectic at this point.

**I can't, Dyl. I have to choose a fucken dress, thanks to you.**

I hit reply again when mom called me over and I put my phone back in my pocket. I went back to the section we were in to find her standing, looking over a dress in her hand. My phone buzzed once again and before my mom could notice, I quickly took it out to see his text.

**Fine then, don't come, but make it up to me by choosing a sexy one.**

I rolled my eyes and placed it away. Another thing that our past-kiss relationship had brought was flirting. Dylan was already prideful, and now that I had allowed him to come near me, he was no longer ashamed to flirt with me.

Not that I mind.

"Aria!"My mom hollered at me, making me snap my head towards her. "Seriously, whats wrong with you today?"

"Sorry, I was just-"

"Never mind that now," She waved it off and then held up the dress, displaying it to me as a huge smile cracked on her lips. "What do you think of this one?"

I eyes the dress in her hand, it was the color of dark, deep red, just like the color of wine.

My favorite. I've always been attracted to the color red and especially its qualities of danger, courage, strength, passion, desire, love and so on.

By the look that I probably had on my face told mom that I had fallen in love with it the moment my eyes laid upon them.

"I knew this was your favorite color, now be a good little girl and wear it." Mom exclaimed, grabbing my arm and pushing me in the changing room along with the dress, excitement already plastered across her face. I guess the only reason why she wasn't tired after so much looking was that this were job, she was a famous fashion designer after all. A few clerks at the expensive boutiques that we went to had even asked to take a picture with my mom so that they could hang it in their boutique. I was actually very happy for her, at least her new passion would distract her from missing dad all the time like she used to before.

Shaking my head out of my thoughts, I went ahead and slipped the soft, velvety dress on and looked at myself in the mirror. The fitting was perfect, the top bodice hugged my torso like second skin as the rest of the dress flew down openly, the fabric bouncing from side to side with even the slightest of movement. It had over-layering cap-sleeves that showed my color bone and exposed my neck and top of my chest, although not inappropriately. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and exited out where my mom was. Zoey and Mom were discussing something, but when they saw me come in, their mouths dropped.

Mom gasped, and then threw her arms around me, nearly yelling with excitement. She looked up and down, her eyes roaming around and adjusting any places that needed to be adjusted before she stepped back and covered her mouth with her hands.

"This, this, is so your dress. Aria, you look beautiful." The last part came out as a whisper as she raised her finger to wipe away a faint tear. I had to roll my eyes at that, but I was still taken aback by my mother's comment. I guess she was right, I felt good in this dress and that says a lot considering the fact that I absolutely loathe wearing dresses and all.

"You can so do better." Zoey scoffed, giving me a disgusted look on her face. I just smirked at her, she was jealous.

"Oh hush!" Mom waved her off. "She can't look any more beautiful. Now, go take it off so we can get it packed."

With one last glare at Zoey, I went back into the changing room to take it off. I closed the door and turned to the mirror again. Would Dylan like this dress? Is it too preppy? Do my legs look good enough to go with this dress?

Is it sexy enough?

I almost laughed at myself for thinking all of that. Too much of Dylan Sprouse is not healthy for me.

After buying the dress, Zoey decided to go to yet another boutique because she couldn't find any dress in this one, and all the rest of the ones that we had been to. I groaned as she pointed to the one that was right across from this one. She was even more moody now that I had bought mine.

I turned to mom, "Do I have to come? I already bought mine, can't I just go home?"

Mom had probably seen the desperation in my eyes which was why she nodded and handed me the extra set of keys to our house and enough money to take a taxi. I kissed her cheek and left, after making a stop at the food court first of course.

"You fucking piece of shit!" I yelled, storming into the dressing room which had his name gold-plated on it.

He sat lazily on the bed, back resting on the mattress of his bed as he played with Coco in his hands.

"Language, young lady," he shook

his head with a fake expression of disappointment. "You're in a Disney environment."

Yeah, like that would simmer me down.

"How dare you kidnap Coco?!" I gritted my teeth and stomped my feet like a spoiled, angry child who didn't get his candy.

His attention turned back to my precious teddy bear as he juggled it in his hands. "Well, it was the only thing that could have made you come here, so I stole it. Glad it worked."

He flashed his million dollar grin and almost had me, almost, but then I remembered that he had my baby in his hands and let me tell you, I don't trust anyone when it comes to Coco, not even him. Stomping towards him, I aimed to get it but he snatched it away from me before I could reach it. I tried again but failed every time.

"Dylan!" I grunted, still trying but the next thing I know, Dylan shifted up, grabbed me by the waist and twirled us around until I was the one who ended up on the mattress and he above me, arm still tightly secured around my lower torso.

And here it comes.

"You're cute when you're angry," he smirked down, his eyes glimmering with tease. He's close enough to have the tip of our noses almost touch and the way his eyes were narrowed down that sexy glare, gave me goosebumps.

...His charm strikes, war has started, Dylan-1, Aria-0.

"And you need to start finding new people to give you company." I mimicked his tone.

Update: Dylan-1, Aria-1

"Yeah, but then I won't get enough time to spend with you."

"That'd be a favor to me." I snickered, teasing him back.

Scratch that, Dylan-1, Aria-2.

"That's a lie, good girls shouldn't lie." I could feel his hand slowly inch higher my waist, burning my skin through my shirt. He used his other arm to balance himself so his weight wouldn't have crushed me underneath, but now even that hand had started to play with the tips of my hair that were spread across the bed.

My body was wrecking with nerves at this point, my heart thumping so hard that I feared even he could feel it, but yet I tried to keep my resolve strong, I was winning so I need to keep going.

"Who told you that I was a good girl?"

Before I could determine the scores again, he leaned in and captured my lips into a bone-shivering kiss. My eyes shut close and my body started to tingle everywhere with pleasure, making me forget about everything as I was given no choice but to kiss him back.

Usually, he would be cautious, almost careful whenever he kissed me, probably afraid that I might not be ok with it, but today, today his lips were moving feverishly against mine, deepening the kiss more and more. My hands traveled up to secure themselves around his neck, itching to just dig my fingers in his golden locks.

But I was on a mission and no matter how much he was killing me right now with his lips, I am not willing to give up.

I slid one of my hands away from his neck, slowly moving it towards where Coco was as I kept Dylan busy with the kiss. Squirming around until I felt my fingers dig into Cocos soft wool fur, I grabbed and broke off the kiss, catching Dylan off guard as I shot up and mimicked his moves of twirling us around until Dylan's back was on the mattress and I was on top of him, straddling his lower abdomen, flashing him a victorious smirk.

"Aw, bitch." Dylan cursed, out of breath due to all the kissing he was doing earlier.

"Language, mister," I repeated his words from earlier as I leaned in close just to tease him. The way his body immediately stiffened made it clear that I was succeeding. "You're in a Disney environment."

His plump limps arched up into a grin and I immediately felt the urge to have them on mine again. Was Coco worth breaking off the kiss?

Yes.

No.

I don't know.

"You're even more cute when you fight back with me," His eyes twinkled. I playfully smacked him on the chest and shaking my head, got off of him.

I grabbed the bag that I had placed on the floor and shoved Coco in it.

Dylan must have noticed it, "You found a dress?" He scowled, as if he couldn't believe that I had found one.

"Is that hard to believe?" I cocked my eyebrow up.

"Fuck yeah, you're picky as hell."

I rolled my eyes and was about to reply back when a knock on the door interrupted me.

A guy I didn't recognize before popped his head in, a clipboard clutched close to his chest.

"Dyl, next scene is up, be down at the stage in five minutes." He waited for Dylan to respond, which he did with a slight nod and then left.

"Why're you guys still shooting when KCAs are only a day away?" I asked, confused. How will that help in any way besides making the stars even more tired then they probably already were?

Dylan got up from the bed and made his way across towards the dresser as he started to fix his hair.

"Don't know, sweetheart." He said, "I don't make the rules."

After Dylan had fixed his appearance, not that I think it needed to be, he locked his door and we started our walk down the hallway.

"You cost me so much time to come here, how did you even get Coco?" I asked as we rounded the corner to descend down the stairs to the first floor where the Suite Life set was.

"I stole it this morning through your window." He answered smugly and then threw his arm around my shoulders to pull me close. "Which, by the way, you should really remember to lock, y'never know who might sneak in." His voice was a whisper, lips a tease as they brushed against my ear and a shiver ran down my spine.

I saw that we were nearing the set which was littered by people, so I pushed his arm off of me. "Paws off, Sprouse."

Shaking his head, he withdrew once we passed the big doors that opened up to the enormous hall that had the set of the Sky deck on one side and chairs for the live audience on the other. People were scattered everywhere, actors, producers, hair and makeup dressers, camera men, a few lucky fans, everyone was busy with something at their hands. I was completely astonished when Dylan had brought me here the first time, a couple of days ago. The set was so much more bigger in real life and I just couldn't help but think how hard it must be to act in front of all those people that sit in the live audience.

"Come on," Dylan nodded his head and engulfed my hand in his, guiding me off to the sides off the set where most of the actors add their last touch-ups before the shooting. Matt, the guy who played Woody, and Doc, the guy who played Marcus, greeted me with fist bumps. I had gotten friendly with these two immediately after my first few visits here.

"Yo what's up, Oreo?!" Matt boomed as I reached to bump my fists with him but froze as I heard that nickname he gave me and fist bumped him right in the stomach instead.

Doc chuckled by my side and I flashed him a grin.

"Hey, try to keep the violence low, this is a kids show." Dylan chimed before his hair dresser pulled him away from us to start fixing his hair again since he hadn't fixed them right the first time.

I chuckled, shook my head, and joined Matt and Doc on top of the little railing, balancing myself with my strong grip.

"What's wrong with calling you Oreo?" Matt whined, rubbing his stomach.

"First of all, it doesn't even go with my name-"

"Uh, excuse you, yes it does. ARIA and OREO go together if you had Os instead of As in your name."

"Uh, excuse yourself, but I don't so deal with it and don't call me Oreo again."

"Hey, in my defense, you were eating Oreos when I first met you and I couldn't hear what you were saying through a mouthful of them when I asked you your name."

It was true. I had been starving after school that day when Dylan had forced me to come so, to get back at him, I made him buy me two large packs of Oreos which I couldn't stop shoving into my mouth, even when he had introduced me to these two oafs.

My mouth was full when Matt had asked

me my name and each time I said "Aria" he heard "Oreo" and ever since then, that's what he kept calling me.

"But you know," Doc spoke up, joining in our conversation. "The only nickname she accepts is M'lil Ar Ar and you can't call her that unless you're Dylan."

I turned to him with a frown, "No, I don't accept that nickname either! That little shit is too stubborn to listen to me when I tell him not to call so I just gave up!"

Both boys looked at me with narrowed eyes and nonchalantly nodded their hands.

"Right."

I rolled my eyes and looked out towards the set. "You two are awfully annoying today."

Matt slung his arm over my shoulders. "It's just the beginning, Oreo, this is just the beginning."

I tried to give him a death glare but failed since I was struggling not to laugh at the fake serious face he was trying to pull off.

Suddenly, a hand shoots out to us and shoves Matt's arm off of my shoulders, making him nearly fall off of the railing.

"Hands off. " Dylan muttered on his way to the set followed by a laughing Brenda who waved to me as the actors started to collect themselves on the stage.

Doc chuckled beside me and even I had to hold back a grin.

Maybe coming here today wasn't even that bad. What was I gonna do home alone anyways? I need to start socializing again, just like I used to all the time in New York.

Dylan was slowly bringing the old Aria, the real Aria, back. The one I thought I had left in the city when mom forced me to move here. Somehow, he ends up to be the solution to every one of my problems, even though some of them were caused by him, and I just can't help but feel thankful that I did move here. If I hadn't, I would've never met him.

And more importantly, I would've never known what sincerely liking someone had felt like.

HEYYYY!

So, I'm in school right now, struggling to update this shit already and with my fingers crossed, here it is! I'm in a very writey mood today soooooo, who knows, I might update the next chapter when I get home?

But no promises though, I still have half the school to suffer through and you never know how that will effect my mood.

Anyways, please leave your feedback and votes! I wasn't really that happy with this chapter, but what do you guys think?

Thanks and I love you all!


	28. Chapter 28

**AND THE KCAs are here!**

**Ok, so before you read this, I just wanna point out the fact that I'm not a KCA expert and that the things here, the dialogue and the outfits of the twins might not match up to the ones in the actual show. I mean, afterall, this is my imagination lol. But don't worry, the Orange Carpet is still there. **

**Anyways, hope you enjoy it! And please, do leave your comments!**

**WARNING: NOT PROOF-READ, FORGIVE ME FOR ANY ERRORS. **

**:)**

_**Aria's POV~**_

"Hurry up or get out of my way!" Zoey yelled behind me as she ran up ahead and into the house. God, we still had two hours before we had to leave for the hours and the only thing that was left to do was put on the dresses. Why the fuck was she in such a hurry?

Mom had made a reservation for me and Zoey at one of those really expensive Beauty Salons so we could get our make up and hair done. I didn't complain this time and went without any hesitations, even though I had to go with my sister. Mom had already chosen a hairstyle for me and had instructed the lady there well, the one who sometimes helped my mom around with her fashion shows. I was thankful of my mom, usually I can't choose myself to pick a certain type of a hairdo and mom had spared me a lot of headache. Plus, its better to have had it done by a professional versus my clumsy hands because I was going to attend an Award Ceremony after all.

Oh, and also because he was gonna be there and I just want to see his jaws drop. Just because.

Smugly smiling to myself, I entered my bedroom and opened my closet door, taking the expensive dress out. The deepness of its blood red color pierced my eyes again and actually made me eager to slip it back on. Which is weird because, again, I'm not the dress-wearing type of a girl.

"Where the fuck is my clutch?!" Zoey hollered from the other room as I rolled my eyes. Why couldn't she just go get ready at the set or something? That's what most of the stars were doing and that was also the reason why I hadn't seen Dylan yet. All the Suite Life stars were departing right from the set and they were probably very busy right now, seeing that a large mob of audience was already building up at the center it was going to be held at, according to news.

I slipped the dress on and then added on the white diamond jewelry necklace and earrings that mom had given me. According to her expert advice, my dress would really be popped out with these and look more accessorized. I should be given an award today too, I have never been this preppy in my life ever before, its an achievement. Once I was finally done with everything, I stood back and eyed myself in the full-length mirror.

The dress was fitted perfectly on me, completed by my wine red stiletto heels. My hair was elegantly twisted into one of those very fancy buns with loose strands hanging down to add volume. I had make up on, mostly on my eyes which were shaded with smoky gold eye-shadow and winged liner, hugged with mascara-brushed eyelashes. There was a tint of red blush on my already rosy cheeks and I was wearing a nude colored lip-gloss, all of which was done by the lady at the salon of course, my hands aren't this talented. I had grabbed a jacket, just in case if it git cold by the time we'd be back.

Taking in a deep breath, I smiled at my reflection. I felt beautiful today. I hope nothing goes wrong.

"Aria."

I twirled around to the source of the voice amongst all the other chattering to find Bree standing there, looking at me with her eyes wide open.

"Aria, is that you? Wearing a dress...and makeup?" She asked breathlessly. I let out a laugh and joined her.

"Yes, Bree. This is Aria, in a dress and makeup." I informed her as she still had that look of astonishment placed on her face.

"Wow, you look beautiful!" She exclaimed, and then looked in my eyes with raised eyebrows. "Don't you worry, babe, if this was all to impress him, then I bet he wont be able to blink his eyes away from you the moment he sees you."

"Uh, hello? This is not to impress some stupid guy, this is my attempt to join in with the happiness of my family." I exclaimed, using a professional tone to emphasize. Bree rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right, bitch. Go try that trick on someone else."

I laughed and that's when I noticed her appearance. She was wearing a teal blue maxi dress that flew down to her feet with complicated embroidery along the bodice. Her hair was left out into thick curls and she had mostly eye-make up on, just like me.

"Bree, you look-"

"Hot, gorgeous, a sex-bomb. Yeah, I know." Another voice interrupted mine as Cole emerged from behind Bree, his arm immediately wrapping around her waist and pulling her in.

"I wasn't really going to say a sex-bomb, but okay." I smiled at the two as Cole leaned in and placed a passionate kiss on her cheek, making her blush and smile like she was the most happiest girl in the world.

Is that what being in a relationship did to you?

"What took you so long?" Bree asked Cole.

"Oh, you know, we had to sign autographs right as we stepped out and then we had to get pictures taken and a few interviews on the Orange Carpet. Its a mess out there, believe me." Cole answered. I noticed he was wearing black tux and his golden hair were combed perfectly to the side.

"But don't you worry though," Cole turned to me. "He's on his way here, we got separated in the crowd."

Bree giggled and I rolled my eyes.

"You two are never gonna stop with your teasing. To think, you really are made for each other." I commented.

"That we are." Cole nodded, stroking Bree's arm, looking at her as if she was all he saw at the moment.

I couldn't help but smile again. Their love looked so pure, so true that it was hard to believe that such a thing could even exist out of the scopes of sappy novels and movies. I had never paid much attention to it, up until now.

"Aria!" I heard my mom call me from across the great hall. She motioned towards me to come to her so I said my farewells to the happy couple and skidded over to my mother who was waiting for me with a group of other women surrounded around her.

Oh great. Mom had mentioned something about her wanting me to meet some of her colleagues and I'm guessing that's what all this is about.

I walked over and mom introduced me, and after politely greeting each and everyone of them, I started to pretend to listen about their discussion on whatever it was they were discussing about. Probably fashion, since they were all fashion designers like my mom.

My back was to the big doors that people were entering through from and I couldn't help but keep thinking that Dylan might have entered and who knows, might have seen me?

If Bree had complimented me like that, God knows what Dylan's reaction will be.

Maybe I shouldn't have out-done myself with so much dressing up?

Wait,_ have _I out-done myself?

Oh God.

"Come on, Hun." Mom turned to me, grabbing my arm. "Let's go, the people are settling in their seats."

I gave her a small smile and started to follow her into the big indoor-stadium like stage where the awards were going to be held. We had to check-in and then arrive at our seats. It was crowded and I was starting to get overwhelmed by how many stars were present there. From Selena Gomez, to Taylor Swift, to the iCarly cast, it was all just so exciting, but unfortunately, my mom didn't let me get a foot out of her sight.

As we took our seats, somewhere near the middle row, my eyes frantically gazed around but did not find the boy with the most perfect blonde locks, yes, yes even more perfect then Justin Bieber's.

My heart dropped as I couldn't spot him anywhere. My gaze had dropped over to Matt, who was waving at me and I waved back. He was standing up with the whole cast of the Suite Life grouped around each other, but much to my dismay, Dylan was not with them.

Where the hell was he?

I mean, he's the one who forced me to come here in the first place and now _he_ is the one who is gone.

After everyone had settled down, the lights around the seating area dimmed and the ones on the stage lightened up. The show began as the host, Will Smith, greeted everyone from the stage, his voice booming through the microphone as cheers and claps erupted through out the room.

I leaned back and relaxed in my seat.

I am not going to let the absence of a certain someone ruin the show for me.

Even though he keeps roaming back and forth in my mind every fucking five minutes.

"And now! Up next is our Favorite TV Actor Award! Here are the nominees." Will bellowed from the podium as everyone shifted their attention to the big TV screen as it flashed the Nominees for the Favorite TV Actor Award.

First, Jason Lee from _My Name is Earl _was viewed with a short clip.

Second came, and my heart accelerated as I jolted up in my seat, Dylan Sprouse with a short clip from _The Suite Life._

God, please let him win. He has worked hard, and I do mean, hard to earn this.

Third came, and I felt my heart drop, Cole Sprouse.

The eager smile I had, wiped off.

Why the fuck would they do that, put the brothers up against each other for the same award? Now I didn't know anymore who to wish for, both twins deserved it, in my point of view at least.

The fourth nominee was viewed, Nat Wolff from _The Naked Brothers Band_, and he was the final and last nominee.

My heart was thumping, hard and slow.

The noise around me simmered down until they turned into a slur in my ears and I could no longer make out any sense of them.

My blood was rushing to my cheeks and ears, burning my skin as I leaned forward and eagerly, and somewhat, fearfully waited for the results to come out.

A guy, dressed up as a big chicken sprinted towards the stage to Will. He bent down and pretended to lay an egg as a small box emerged from somewhere within his white furry costume.

Will picked it up and went back to the microphone on the podium. He looked up at the crowd, which was currently silent, waiting with anticipation as to who had won.

My heart was now beating really, really slow, but hard and loud.

I beat.

2 beat.

3 beat.

Will needs to hurry the fuck up and say it already.

"And the winner..."

Oh God.

"..of the Favorite TV Actor Award is..."

I closed my eyes, waiting for him to spill the name already. The name of the winner.

"...DYLAN SPROUSE!" He yelled and my eyes flushed open as I finally exhaled, letting out the breath that I had been holding for quite a while now. The tension that had ceased the crowd immediately swept away as more cheers and claps erupted. I frantically looked around, but I didn't spot Dylan up until I saw the back of his head as he emerged somewhere from the crowd of seats and sprinted up the stairs that led to the stage.

God.

He was dressed in black glaze-coated jeans, topped off with a navy blue Enjoi t-shirt and grey Nike high-tops with neon green laces that were popping out.

Damn. He looked so...

Yummy, very yummy to the eye.

Dylan smiled as he approached Will and the men shook their hands before Will handed him the small replica of the orange Nickelodean blimp. Dylan nodded a thanks as he took his place in front of the mic, flashing his million, no his trillion dollar smirk at the audience, probably causing some girls to swoon over him already, including me, but don't worry I got a hold of myself.

He took a deep breath as the roars simmered down.

"Hey there everyone," He waved a hand to the crowd, "I wanna thank you all for honoring me with this award, but most of all, I want to thank my dad, who's encouraged me on to always give my best, my coworkers, my crew, Irene, my mom-on-set-"

A few chuckles erupted around the room and even I grinned.

"And especially, most importantly, I want to thank my brother for being there for me. For sharing the experience and hard work, the excitement and for just being the side that I could always lean on. Thanks a lot, little brother, this goes to the both of us. And Thank you all!" He raised a fist in the air as the audience roared out into yet another round of cheers and applause.

I was clapping too, my smile spreading from ear to ear as a gush of warm feeling surged in me.

I briefly glanced around at where Cole was, seated with Bree attached to his side. He was looking at his brother with a smile and eyes twinkling.

This time, when Dylan descended the stairs, I followed him with my gaze till I found that he had seated somewhere near his dad, a row in front of Cole and Bree's.

However, before taking his seat back, he went ahead and did a handshake with Cole and gave him a hug, which Cole happily returned.

Aww, twin bromance.

How cute.

The rest of the show flew by in a breeze and towards the end, Mom's name was recited among Hollywood's Honorable mentions.

I congratulated my mom and gave her a hug. She had accomplished so much in such a little time, I was so proud of her.

During the performances, my eyes kept roaming back towards Dylan, now that i actually knew exactly where he was seated. I could only spot out the side of his head and at times, I did catch him gaze around, as if to search for someone and my heart fluttered each time he did that.

Was he looking for me?

Even if he was, from where he was sitting, he probably won't be able to catch my sight, there were just too many people seated in between the rows. I sighed, and leaned back in my chair, trying to enjoy the little bit remaining of the show. It was actually really fun. And the fact that Zoey hadn't even gotten nominated for anything made me feel even better.

At least it would shut her up for a few days. The whole past week she had practically rubbed it in my face that she was going to KCAs because she had accomplished her dreams at such a young age while I was leading on a pathetic, miserable life worth of nothing.

Too bad, she had only gotten invited. Nothing more than that.

Makes sense since, according to Dylan, she had just started shooting her first few scenes. That girl seriously thinks too much of herself at times.

Up next was the after-party. It was going to be held in another hall and it was going to be filled the celebrities, the camera crew, guests, friends and few lucky fans, so it wouldn't be as crowded as this, which I was beyond grateful for because the moment the show finished, everyone stood up from their seats at the same time and short story short, it took well over half an hour to get everybody out and in the while, I had lost my mom and my friends in the traffic.

I was waiting for the crowd in front of me to move their asses ahead already when suddenly, I felt a strong hand engulf mine. I turned my head to find the source but couldn't as it quickly jerked me backwards into the crowd. People were so crammed up together that I couldn't make out who it was that was pulling me. I was confused and had no idea what the hell was going on and since the grip around my hand was really strong, I knew that there was no fighting my way out of it.

People gave us and whoever the kidnapper was dirty looks as we shoved past them and finally, we reached the end of the crowd and that's when I saw the back of the person who was not willing to let go of my hand and pulled me towards the back of the stage. No one was here and it was slightly dark.

"Dylan, what are yo-"

I was cut-short as Dylan turned to face me, pulling me towards him, grabbing both of my wrists and then roughly pushing me against the wall, pinning my wrists on the either side of my head. My breath hitched in my throat as he leaned in so close that the tip of our noses touched and our breaths mingled.

His eyes glimmered, even in the darkness. "Hiding away from me was the worst decision you could ever make, sweetheart."

He shook his head, his eyes boring into mine with a warning, a danger that I could clearly see that gave me goosebumps.

"I-I wasn't hiding. I just couldn't find you." I stuttered as a nervous wreck. Getting used to such close proximity was going to take me a while to get used to.

"Couldn't find me or weren't looking hard enough?" He leaned closer, his body was completely pressed up against mine, trapping me securely between him and the wall.

I was burning from the insides, but yet I felt shivers run down my spine at such a close contact. I really need to get a grip over myself.

"You're asking me but were you? After all, you're the reason why I'm even here in the first place." I spoke, thankful that my words hadn't slurred due to my nerves.

He looked at me for a second and leaned even more closer, making me forget how to breathe all together. His glistening eyes traveled from my eyes to lips and then back up again. His grey orbs were now sparkling with desire, with lust and I couldn't even begin to imagine what was going around in his mind.

My eyes had zeroed down to his lips as well before I looked back up at him and suddenly, the urge, the strange yearning to have him smash those lips to mine surged through me as I felt tingles in my stomach just with the thought of it.

"You have no idea how good those words make me feel," He whispered. "There's no one else in this world that I want to celebrate my accomplishment with besides you, Aria."

"How is pinning me against the wall a celebration exactly?" I questioned as his eyes twinkled again and he slowly leaned closer and closer.

Damn it, just kiss me already.

But instead of bringing his lips to mine, he brought them behind my ear as he snuggled his face in my neck. I stiffened and was trying to keep the shivers down, but failed.

"The celebration is yet to begin, love." His voice was a low, husky whisper, the sexy kind that made my toes curl. His lips brushed against the skin behind my ear, tickling my skin there. Slowly, his grip on my wrists loosened and his hands slowly, teasingly slid down to my waist and hips, clutching me there hard and pulling tightly against his body. My hands immediately dropped down to his shoulder.

I felt the first kiss below my ear, the second followed after he brushed his lips further down and placed another one on my neck. They were soft, warm, passionate and they completely knocked the breath out of me. I'm going to pass out if he keeps doing such things to me. His lips brushed further down and placed a big, wet kiss at the crook of my neck. I guess that was my soft spot because the feeling of his lips made me arch my neck up as the pleasure earned a gasp from me.

Dylan clutched my hips even tighter as he sucked on that spot for a little longer before starting his path back up my neck, this time, a lot more faster, more feverishly, his lips leaving behind hot kisses all over my neck. My shut close as my hands weaved themselves in his luscious, gold locks, which looked so perfect that I almost felt bad for ruining them. Dylan didn;t seem to care as he kept kissing up higher and higher, adding presure to his kisses as he reached my ear again.

"You look beautiful," His voice was throaty, laced with hunger as he kissed me yet again at the spot. "So beautiful..." he whispered before his lips were back to kissing higher up my neck. They reached my cheek, then the side of my nose, and then just beside my lips as a last tease before they finally, finally found their desired location on my lips. He kissed me slowly, passionately at first as my hands massaged the back of his scalp while dug deep in his silk, gold hair.

I felt butterflies in my stomach, no forget that, I fucking felt dragons having a party in my stomach as I kissed him back, our lips moving in a perfect synchronization. His fingers dug in to my skin as he pulled me even closer, if that was even possible. Soon enough, our need to kiss each other intensified and our slow kisses were now become more and more urgent.

As my hands tickled the back of his neck, Dylan kissed me even harder, a quiet moan managing to escape from his lips.

God, the way that had sounded...

Lack of oxygen soon started to kick in and I knew that we had to break apart soon before someone walked in on us or before people started to question our whereabouts at the party, so I slid my hands down his neck to cup either side of his face as I pulled us apart, savoring as much pleasure as I could with the last contact of our lips.

Our heavy breathing mingled together as Dylan closed his eyes, leaning his forehead on mine. For a moment, no one said anything and i took advantage of the peace and quiet to stare at him. His skin was warm, burning like mine.

Did he felt the strange tingles like I did because of our contact?

As I gazed at him, slowly stroking the side of his face with my thumb, I took in his every sight. If you were close enough, you could spot some freckles across his nose and there was a part of discolored skin at his lower-left cheek. Since his eyes were closed, I could see just how thick his eyelashes were, hugging his eyes perfectly. This person in front of me was so beautiful, both inside and out and I just couldn't help but smile at the thought that I was starting to fall deeper and harder for him.

After a minute or so, Dylan took a deep breath and opened his eye-lids, his stormy grey pupils immediately locking with my blue ones. He looked at me with adoration and soon a smile formed on his lips as well. One of his hands left my hip to come grab my chin as his thumb started to slowly stroke my skin there.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" He whispered, looking deeply at me.

"You've told me enough times," I smiled in reply.

We stayed like that for a while, but then the peaceful moment was disrupted as Dylan's phone went off. Sighing with a hint of disappointment on his face, he stepped back a little to retrieve it from his pocket. The loss of closeness to him immediately made me feel cold, but I tried to push away those feelings.

"Hello?" he spoke through. "Yeah dad? Oh, no I'm on my way, I just got lost in the crowd. Yeah, ok. Yeah, K, I'll see you there in a while, bye dad." He then pressed the end call and placed his phone away.

"I guess since the celebration is over, we should leave?" I asked.

"Yeah..." He sighed, dragging the word. I chuckled and step forward ahead of him.

Two steps later, his voice jolts me to a stop.

"Go out with me."

I freeze in my tracks, my breathing coming to a stop as well.

"What?" My voice is barely audible.

"Be my girlfriend."

I turn around to face him, only to come in contact with his hopeful eyes. I can clearly see that he was serious, dead serious as if his whole life depended on my answer.

"Dylan-"

"Be mine." He cut in again, eyes sparkling. "Give me the right to hold your hand in public, to kiss you whenever I want, to keep you protected from others, to call you _mine_, Aria."

He stepped up, grabbing both my hands in his. "I can't keep this in myself any longer. I like you, I like you so much that its killing me! Every single second you're on my mind, heck I fall asleep with you as my last thought and my first when I wake up again in the morning! I just want to spend all of my time with you and it would make it heck of a whole lot easier if I could do it while calling you my girlfriend so I can show off to the whole world how luck I am and-"

He was nervously rambling now, how adorable.

"Dylan-"

"I mean, I tried and still am trying to give you as much time as you need but-"

"Dylan-" I tried again, only for him to interrupt me again.

"Its just that i can't keep this whole friendship thing going on anymore when you mean so much more to me, i just-"

I snatched my hands out of his as I cupped his cheek and smashed my lips on his, bold move on my part, I know. He froze, finally shutting up before he sighed against my lips.

I leaned just a tad bit so our lips still brushed against each other's when I talked.

"Does that answer your question?" I asked.

I felt his lips pull into a smile against mine and the next thing I know, his arms snaked around my waist, crashing my body against his as his lips captured mine again.

Hehe, I feel so mushy wushy inside after writing that. Oh, how i wished I was in Aria's place right now...*sigh*

Anyways! Here's an early update! Love me yet?

Lol, anyways, next week is finals week for me and knowing that I wouldn't get the time to get a good sleep let alone post a chapter, I decided to update the next chapter earlier.

And just to be fair guys, I work hard on these so it would really mean a lot to me if you voted and shared your feedback as well, bc honestly I feel discouraged to write when I see that eventhough people vote, they don't comment to let me know what they thought of my writing.

But all in all, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Love you all! Happy almost-weekend!


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey there you lovely Wattpad-ers!**

**I apologize for the delay, but thanks to Breezylicous 's request and me finally forcing myself to take a little break from studying for finals, I decided to finish this chapter and post it up. **

**Its not as long as my other one and not drama-filled. Its short and fluffy with all the Arylan filled in it and I really really do hope that you enjoy it. **

**Plus, a chapter is better than none at all, right?**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE VOTE/COMMENT! PLEASE I BEG YOU! **

**Warning: Not proof-read, I apologize in advance for any errors. **

Hurriedly slipping on my black hoodie jacket, I threw on my black ankle boots and turned to the window overlooking out to Dylan's. By the darkness behind his curtains and the lack of his shadow moving around, I could tell that he was still probably sound asleep. My head whipped towards the clock to see that we only had twenty or so minutes left before school starts.

Its a wonder that I had woken up earlier today, even before Dylan. Actually, its a wonder that he managed to come home last night after working nearly ten hours straight. To think that those Hollywood officials would cut him some slack knowing that he was still a teen who also attended public school seemed impossible. I remember that he had come over to my house before going to his, practically dragging his feet with his eyes blood-shot due to the lack of sleep. I was taken back by his appearance the moment I flung open the front door, but as I did, he looked up, managed to smile, and kissed me longingly on the lips before muttering a weak 'goodnight babe' and trailed his feet over to his house. I felt terrible for him.

And I'd be shocked if he actually manages to get out of bed today. After nearly three months of being together, I had grown overly accustomed to be greeted by his breathtaking smile in the mornings and driving to Dunkin' Doughnuts together to grab a quick breakfast before heading over to the death hole that called itself school. Plus, I'd rather go in his luxurious car then that creaky, smelly school bus cramped with obnoxious kids who, for some odd unholy reason, were loud as fuck even this early in the morning. Also, if Dylan didn't go to school for oversleeping again, he would get in trouble and considering the fact that he was already grounded by his dad, I don't think that would be a very great idea.

Grabbing the last of my things and shoving them inside my bag, I slung it over my shoulders and walked up to the window, opening up the crack. Immediately, the chilly early morning air slapped my face as I climbed out, balancing myself on the little sill outside. I have done this countless times before but yet, it seemed to be scary even now.

There was this huge tree that was right in the middle of our windows and I had just never paid much attention to its existence up until Dylan had once used it's tall, firm branches to sneak in my room instead of climbing up the side of the house like he usually did.

Taking a deep breath, I reached for the closest branch and gripping it with all the strength in my body, I stepped forward. As soon as I did, I jumped towards the trunk and hugged it, thanking God up in the Heavens. Then, slowly, I jumped over to the branch on the other side, supporting my weight on the fat trunk. Keeping my balance, I reached over to Dylan's window and let out a breath of relief to find it unlocked. I flew it open and jumped right in since I was starting to lose my balance on the branch. The impact had made me fall face first on to his floor.

Thankfully, my arms had shot out in time and protected my face from hitting the carpet. I groaned and looked up at the bed to find Dylan lost in deep slumber.

Well then, good morning to you too babe.

Cursing at the pain in the back of my neck, I stood up and dusted off my pants. It was early in the morning and I was thankful that his parents had already left to go to their job. I didn't want Matt Sprouse to run in the room to find the next door neighbor sneaking in his son's room while he himself was asleep.

Walking over to his bed, I pounced on his back since he was asleep on his stomach and earned a squint of eyes and a groan from him.

"Wake up," I whispered in his ear and when he realized that it was me, one of his hands slid out to grab mine as he entwined our fingers and pulled my hand to his lips, placing a lingering kiss on the back of it...before getting comfortable and going back to sleep.

I knew it, this is not an easy mission.

"Dylan, wake up."I mumbled as my free hand weaved its way to his hair. They felt soft and smooth like always. I got no response back from Dylan as I found him already deep in sleep.

He really must be tired. I almost feel bad for doing this. But yet again, if he misses school then he would get in trouble and I didn't want that either. I whispered in his ear to wake up again but got no response back as I felt his breathing calming down signaling that he was already dozed off.

I sighed and placed my chin on the base of his neck, craning my neck to the side so I could get a view of his face that was half buried in his pillows. Him, in this vulnerable state looked so much younger, so much like a little boy.

It was so adorable that I had to resist myself from pinching his cheeks.

Inhaling a deep breath, I tilted my head again so now my cheek rested on the back of his neck. This position was actually very comfortable, even though I was laying on top of his bare back. The heat radiating from his skin was surging into mine and the coziness was too pleasureful considering how cold it was at this time of the day. With one of my hand interlocked tightly with his and the rest of my body cuddled on top of his, I slowly found my eyes becoming heavier and heavier.

But alas, it wasn't meant to be as the angry face of my mother flashed through my mind, shooting my eyes wide open. I looked up at the clock to see that we only had about ten or so minutes left. School was at least fifteen minutes away.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

I hurriedly tried to pry myself off, but the arm that Dylan was holding tightly made me fall back into the same position. Dylan groaned sleepily.

"Aria, go back to sleep." he mumbled, half of his words not even making sense since his mouth was covered with the back of my hand that he was still holding close to his lips. The skin there tingled as his lips brushed lightly against it, taking me off guard for a second before I managed to regain myself.

"Dylan, we really are running late, get up." I urged, nudging him on the shoulder.

"Just five more minutes..." He mumbled again.

My shoulders slumped as I looked at the clock again. "No, we don't even have enough to make it there in time, we're already gonna be late to history and you know our teacher, he's gonna think again that we were-"

I stopped mid-sentence as I realized what I was saying.

"Hooking up in the janitor's closet?" Dylan finished for me, his lips pulling up into a smirk.

Piece of shit.

I smacked him on the shoulder with my free hand, "Shut up." To which he replied with a grin, although his eyes were still closed.

Fucking piece of shit.

The last time we were late to history due to Dylan oversleeping, our stalker of a teacher had pulled us two out after the class ended and informed us to keep our "teenage hormones" in control and make it to class on time instead of "relishing together in probably a janitor's closet."

My jaw had practically dropped down to my feet due to the shock that our dear teacher was that judgmental with those type of thoughts while Dylan just stood there, his lips pulled in tightly as he tried with all the might in his body to not explode into a fit of laughter.

I was still mortified, my cheeks and ear burning red when we exited into the hallway as Dylan finally let his laughter out and didn't stop until he dropped me off to my next class which was all the way on the other side of the building and kissed me goodbye. But even then, he was chuckling uncontrollably and trying to keep himself stable.

Did I mention my boyfriend was a piece of shit?

I snatched my arm out of his embrace and stood up, earning a groan of annoyance in the process.

"Fucking get up or I'm walking to school by myself." I warned, praying for him to listen because I seriously was starting to consider that option, no matter how torturing it sounded.

"No," He grunted, finally shifting from his position. "Schools too far and its cold out, I'm getting up."

One thing that I've learned from dating him is the fact that Dylan had a severe case of O.P.B.S, Overly Protective Boyfriend Syndrome.

Not that I had any problem with it, most of the time.

Smiling inwardly, I watched him struggle and finally drag his feet to the bathroom, cursing school under his breath as he did so. As I heard the shower go off on the other side of the door, I sighed and plopped down on one of the bean bags that faced the gigantic plasma screen TV. All around, video game and game controllers and headphones and all sorts of video game-related things were scattered and it took me well over five minutes to find the darned remote. Surfing to Nickelodeon, I got comfortable and started watching Spongebob because people, Spongebob Squarepants is life.

Plankton was up to one of his schemes of stealing the secret formula once again when lo and behold, Dylan Sprouse stepped out of the bathroom with only a white towel tied loosely around his hips, exposing the v-line and the entirety of his muscular torso and abs. (A/N/ So, I know that as a teen, Dylan Sprouse wasn't very muscular and all but in this story, pretend that he is :p)

I didn't want to give him the pleasure of catching me ogling at his still-dripping body so I turned my attention back to the TV as Dylan walked over to his closet, unaware of the struggle that I was going through. He was ruffling his wet hair with another towel and I just couldn't believe of how oddly shiny they were. Its as if they were made from a broken piece of the sun itself.

Look away, Aria. Look away.

I was starting to burn up in the inside as I thought over the situation I was in right now, in my boyfriend's room, without anyone knowing, the house empty since his parents had left and Cole had also since he was Bree's ride, with my boyfriend walking around wrapped only in a single towel. Oh God.

"Hey Aria?" His voice interrupted my thoughts as my eyes shifted to him and his playful smirk. There was a glint in his eyes, surely not a good sign. "Watch this."

He then proceeded on and, before I could even know what the hell was happening, dropped the towel wrapped around his hips. Immediately, too taken aback, I shrieked as my hand flew to cover my eyes.

Only half a second later, Dylan's laughter boomed across the room so loud that I was pretty sure the entire neighborhood could hear it. He did not just do that! And why the fuck was he laughing?

My heart was giving warning signs of popping right out of my chest any second now as I hesitantly, very very hesitantly, turned back to him, only to find that he was doubled over in laughter, clutching at his stomach and trying to keep his balance by using the wall as support. It was then that I also realized that he was actually in his boxers and not fully naked in front of me like I had thought.

Argh! That fucking monster!

I picked up the nearest object and launched it at him, "I hate you! I hate you, why would you do that?!"

He dodged whatever I had thrown at him, still laughing as I launched something else at him.

"Y..you..scr..screamed!" He panted between laughs.

I grabbed the pillow nearest to me and shot it towards him, only to have him catch it before it could smack his face.

"I fuck'n hate you! You scared the shit out of me!"

Hugging the pillow he strolled up to me and did the thing I hated the most in this entire world. He grabbed both my cheeks and pinched them, making my head shake from side to side.

"Your innocence is damn cute." I aggressively smacked his hands off as I felt the pain in my cheeks. He only chuckled and kissed me on one of them before turning back towards the closet.

"I hate you." I mumbled as I massaged my aching cheeks.

"I love you too." He replied as he started to look for his clothes. He was unaware of how his use of the l-word had made me freeze in one place. Love.

Did he mean it like that? Probably not. He was still shaking his head and chuckling at the whole situation, I'm just over-thinking things. Its just that we've been together for three months and our relationship was going strong, stronger than any relationship I had ever had.

I really liked Dylan. Like really really liked him. Him and his kisses, him and his constant care, his smile, his eyes, the feel of his touch, his concern and worry for me. Him. I didn't want anything to come between us and that thought made me question whether I had completely fallen for him yet or not.

Love.

I've heard about it so much, its everywhere. But what is it exactly?

I'm knocked out of my thoughts completely as out of nowhere, I feel his soft lips on mine. When he had gotten dressed and when he had leaned down in front of me to kiss me, I had no idea.

The way they moved, slow, gentle, and so passionately made my toes curl as my hands went up to cup the either side of his face, pulling him closer as I returned the pleasure. His kisses, they were the best part of my days. Words aren't enough to describe what they made me feel.

Unfortunately, his lips leave mine too soon as he snuggled his face at the crook of my neck, his arms slowly encircling around my lower torso, bringing me so close to him that our bodies were completely flushed together. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave into his embrace, not that I had any choice since his scent from the cologne was alluring me in anyways.

"What're you thinking so deeply about?" His warm breath fanned across the bare skin of my neck, shooting tingles to race down my spine.

I wasn't going to tell him so I lied, "About how late we are because of you."

He chuckled and withdrew, pecking me one last time on the lips before he stood up and held a hand out for me. "Ok, ok, I get it. Come on, let's go."

Smiling, I take his hand and he kisses my knuckles as I stand up and then we both make our way out hand in hand.

When we finally arrived at our history class about thirty minutes late, the teacher glared at us with a narrow look through his frame-less spectacles.

"I'll see you both after class."

Not again.

TA-DA!

There you go! With all the fluffy Arylan stuff! 

Please Review! The more reviews, the faster the updates!

Thank you ! Love you!


	30. Chapter 30

**Dylan's POV (I know, finally)**

I remember how happy I was when me and Cole got accepted for the Suite Life of Zack and Cody after we had a long break upon finishing the shoot for Big Daddy. I was sure that since no one had requested any more work from us after the movie, our career had ended right there, but then one day, we got the letter from Disney and our entire lives changed.

The second time I remember being the happiest was when they announced that the TSLOZC was going to have a spin-off. Meaning more work and more money-making for us. But that wasn't entirely why I loved my job. Acting was my passion. I loved it, it was one of the things that defined me besides art and it was even better since I could share the talent with my brother.

Not only that, but I remember almost losing myself to joy when I got my brand new car, and that too with it being all pimped up by the West Coast Customs. Seriously man, I didn't know at the time that I could feel any much more happiness.

But I was wrong. Utterly wrong.

For the past three months, I had been flying on cloud nine. 24/7 my mind was clouded with only one thought, with only one person. Thinking of her day and night, with every passing minute, with every breath I took wasn't new, but knowing the fact that she was mine now was.

I can't fucking believe it. She's mine. Mine. It can't get any better than that.

I sound like a love-sick idiot. Then again, maybe that's because I am.

I knew that I liked her more than anyone I had ever liked before. Sometimes I even found myself questioning whether I loved her, you know, loved her as in giving up my entire self to her. As in she's the only one for me.

Its possible that I do.

I just fucking love that she's mine. That I can freely kiss her when I want, hold her hand wherever and whenever I want, that I can call her my girlfriend now. Who knew I would ever feel this way towards the new girl that I met in detention.

"SPROUSE!" The annoying sound of my science teacher bellowed at me from the front of the classroom, making me wince as I picked my head up from the desk and looked at Mr. Jill. All the heads of the students had whipped towards me in the back as they waited for Mr. Jill to continue.

"There is no sleeping in my classroom!" He yelled again. The classroom wasn't even that big that he felt the need to scream so loud.

"I wasn't sleeping." I blankly replied, looking at him with my eyes narrowed. Dad had grounded me because of Mr. Jill. He had called him to report my 'rude' behavior and my tendency of not participating in class discussion or doing my work. He had over-exaggerated and made my dad mad at me. I was not allowed out of the house except for school or work, which meant no going out with Aria either.

I fucking hate .

"What was that?" He held his hand to his ear. "Are you talking back to me, young man?"

I rolled my eyes. It was a wonder he could even walk around at all, he was that old and seemed to be only aiming his anger at me.

"You know what, why don't you answer question four for me, Mr. Sprouse since you have finally decided to speak up in this class instead of sleeping or playing away with your phone." Mr. Jill proceeded on to place his hands on his ginormous hips, the roll of fat around them bulging from his slacks.

Aw, great. Fuckin' great.

I looked down to see the question on my textbook when I realized that I didn't even have my textbook. Blinking at my own stupidity, I looked back up at Mr. Jill. Snickers were forming around the room as Mr. Jill became even more angrier.

"What? You don't got your textbook with you?" He questioned.

"It's in my locker."

He shook his head. "Go get it right this instant."

Sighing I stood up and walked over to the door, glad that I could get out of this hellhole for a while.

"And I'll see you after school for detention, you remember that young man." I heard Mr. Jill behind me before I practically slammed the door behind me. I took a deep breath as I walked through the empty hallway.

There were only fifteen minutes left in the period, there's no point in going back to class now.

"You tell me right now what you did, Evans." My feet came to a stop as I heard the familiar voice of the school officer, Ms. Cuppett.

"Nothing! I swear, I did nothing!" Another voice exclaimed. A smirk pulled up to my lips at the realization of the owner of the voice.

"Then why did Ms. Flores kick you out?" Asked Ms. Cuppett as I leaned against the lockers so she wouldn't see me.

"Because I was doing nothing...?" Aria replied, more like in as a question. I chuckled.

"Well then, guess where you can do more of nothing today?"

"Where?"

"Detention! Be there at three-thirty sharp or I'll call your mother."

"But-"

"No more buts, off to class now!"

After I was sure that officer Cuppett had disappeared down the other hallway, I sneaked behind Aria, running up as I grabbed her around the waist from behind and twirled her around. She shrieked at first, taken by shock, but then soon erupted into a laugh.

"Put me down, you oaf!" She slapped my arm that was clasped tightly around her waist.

Chuckling, I listened to her and put her down, but I didn't let go of her and just hugged her from behind.

"What did you call me?"

"Something that you completely are."

"Hm, I don't think you would call someone an oaf when just this morning, you were appreciating the fine view of his very fine body." I muttered, snuggling my face in her neck.

"No, I wasn't!" She denied, just like I had expected. "I was perfectly enjoying watching my morning cartoons up until you decided to butt in and pull that stupid joke on me."

I burst out laughing at the memory. The idea popped inside my head while I was in the shower.

Shower is my thinking place after all.

"Stop laughing, Dylan." She gritted her teeth at me. From the corner of my eye, I could see a faint shade of red on her cheeks signifying her blush. She was so cute.

Leaning over, I pecked her lips before I let go of her and we both started walking.

"Ok, ok, I'll stop for now. Why did you get in trouble anyways?" I asked. We dragged our feet towards the end of the vacant hallway, not really aware of where we were actually headed.

"Nothing. I wasn't doing anything and she got mad. I also didn't have my Spanish textbook so she just kicked me out and then called Cuppett." Aria explained, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Wow, talk about fate connection." I commented. When she gave me a confused look, I answered. "Jill kicked me out because I wasn't doing any work and I didn't have my textbook either."

We both chuckled at the coincidence and kept on walking, me managing to grab her hand in the process. We were just busy talking and laughing when suddenly, as we were about to round the corner, we nearly crashed into somebody.

"Watch where you're going!" whoever the guy was, yelled.

I looked up at the same time he did and the world just ceased to move around me. Immediately my hand around Aria's tightened, blood boiling up inside me.

Eric stared back at me, his eyes widening for a second, his jaw clenching before he turned towards Aria. Suddenly, his face softened and he took a step towards her, his mouth opened.

"Aria..." He whispered.

Of course my protective instincts took over and I stepped in front of her, blocking Eric's path to approach her. His eyes flickered back to mine, the stern in them back.

Not again, I will not let him harm her again.

"Stay away from her." My voice came out tight, threatening. I was practically shaking with fury at this point.

"Yeah? Make me, Sprouse."

He then dared to attempt stepping around me in order to get Aria, but I shot my arm out and shoved his shoulder hard enough to send him stumbling a few steps back.

"Dylan.." I could hear the fear in her voice and I gripped her hand even tighter. She's my girlfriend now, she needs to know that I would do anything to keep her safe.

Eric regained his balance and then turned to me with equivalent amount of fury in his eyes. Clenching his jaw and fist, he was about to throw a punch at me that I was already ready to block when a deep voice interrupted us.

"What's going on here, gentlemen?" Whipping our heads, we came eye to eye with the Principal.

I didn't say anything, just turned my burning daggers towards Eric. He was looking at the principal with horror in his eyes. Fucking prick.

"Well?" the principal asked again. "Have you two initiated another fight? I thought I had made it completely clear that I won't tolerate more violence from either of you again from the last time." He kept looking between me and Eric, waiting for an answer.

When neither of us had answered, he cleared his throat.

"To my office right now, both of you." He commanded and walked ahead, expecting us to follow him. With a glare, Eric stepped ahead and followed him.

"Dylan." I turned back to face Aria, her face flushed with worry.

I gave her a reassuring smile, cupping her face to bring it closer to mine. "Hey, don't worry. I'll be back in a few and then we can skip detention together, k?"

She looked at me for a while, but then finally managed to give me a nod. I smiled at her once again, hoping it will give her some reassurance.

"Great, I'll see you in a while." I then leaned in and pressed my lips to hers, keeping them there for a while before I pulled apart and went with the principal.

**Aria's POV**

After crashing into Eric earlier in the day, I didn't see Dylan at all up until I dragged my feet to detention after school.

I was pissed off and a bit moody towards everything. I shouldn't even be in detention right now. I literally did not even do anything. My teacher just needed someone to throw her a tampon for all the bitchiness she threw on me today, including kicking me out of the class.

"Name?" The teacher at the front desk asked, looking at me through her glasses.

I told her my name and she checked it off on her list. I then trudged over to the desk by the window and dropped myself in the chair. Crossing my arms across my chest, I looked out the window to see the last of students walking out this death hole.

Why the fuck did Eric even had to step back in our lives? For the past three months, we had succeeded on ignoring him whenever we found him around the school grounds, but then today, why the fuck did he have to try talking to me? That too right in front of my boyfriend?

"Hey love." I heard him before I felt his kiss on my cheek. I turned my head to see Dylan plop down on the seat next to mine.

"Hey," I sat up straighter. "What happened?"

Dylan raised his eyebrow. "Where?"

"With you and the principal? What did he say?" I pressed. The whole fucking day I had been worrying whether he had gotten suspended or not, or worse, expelled.

I'm pretty sure that Principal Jones has not forgotten the previous fight.

"Oh," Dylan said. "Nothing. He just let us off with one last warning, nothing to worry about." He charmed a smile towards me.

I narrowed my eyes at him and smacked his shoulder. "Who told you to fucking push him?!"

"Hey!" His other hand went up to his shoulder. "What do you mean by that? I couldn't just stand there and let him get to you!"

"No, but you didn't have to do it in a way that would anger him, thus initiating the fight!" I sneered and hit him again.

"I can't fuckin believe you're actually mad at me for all of this!" He grunted back.

"Why wouldn't I be mad? I was fuckin losing my mind worrying whether you had gotten expelled or not!" Another smack to his shoulder, which he was trying to shield now.

"Aria!" He growled under his breath when another source of voice interrupted us.

"Evans! Sprouse! Do I need to send you two to the principal's?" The teacher yelled over at us. We both slumped back into our seats and shook our heads.

"Now stay quite!" She hollered before turning to whatever paperwork she was doing. I gave her the evil eye. What the hell is wrong with the teachers of this school?

Facing the front with our arms crossed, neither of us said anything for a few minutes. But then I heard Dylan sigh next to me as he turned his body towards me, grabbing my hand and bringing it to his lips.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry." He whispered so the teacher wouldn't hear us. He bent his head down and kissed my knuckles. My heart already started to soften and speed up at the same time, as it weird as that sounds. "I'll try to keep my anger and alpha side under control." He winked.

I shook my head and smiled at his alpha comment. "I just don't want you to get in trouble because of me again. The last time that happened, you ended up in jail."

"Well it was totally worth it." He smirked and winked again. "Plus it adds a lot of uniqueness to our love, Love." He leaned back in his chair, looking at me with those gleaming eyes. "First, we meet in detention. Then we find out that we live right next to each other, we had our first kiss in a jail cell, if you could even count that as a kiss, but still classic though." He squinted and smirked again as he numbered the list off on his fingers.

I chuckled at the memory and listened to him continue.

"Then, I confessed my feelings to you at a basketball court and then fuckin left you there alone." He shook his head disbelievingly at himself.

I grinned again, "Oh let's not forget about your months filled with silent treatment for what, I still don't know."

His eyes turned back to me and the playfulness on his face was replaced with a genuine, almost sad smile. "I know, I'm sorry for leaving like that. I was just too confused."

I smiled back to reassure him that it was fine, that everything was fine. Even though all of it had pained me at the time, it is now that I realized all of it had also led me to finally accept my feelings for him. If he hadn't left like that, I would've never realized how used I had become to his presence in my life. I would've never realized that I had more than just friendly feelings for him.

He smiled, managing to get my heart to skip a beat because of it, and turned back around in his chair, smile still present. The thought that I was the reason behind his smile, his happiness, was exhilarating.

We stayed in quiet for a while, relishing in the peace and quiet. Well, as much peace and quiet you could get while two other students behind were snoring loudly.

After a while, Dylan turned back to me.

"Wanna sneak out?" He whispered.

"What? How?" I whispered back.

He pointed his thumb at the teacher's desk to find that she had her double chin rested on her hand. Even though it looked she was focused on the papers in front of her, I noticed that her eyes were closed and her mouth was hung open as she snored lightly.

I turned back to Dylan with a goofy smile on my lips and nodded enthusiastically.

"Great." He goofily smiled back and stood up carefully and slung his bag over his shoulder so as not to wake the sleeping bodies up. I followed in his steps and laid my hand in his which was open and waiting for me. Then, with careful steps, we soon managed to pass by the desk and from there, practically ran out into the hallway.

For some reason, both of us ended up roaring with laughter when we were far enough for them to hear us.

"I can't fucking believe this, first time skipping detention." I chimed.

"You never skipped detention before?" Dylan asked, slightly surprised.

I shook my head in response, "Teachers in New York are more uptight, plus they fucking lock the room."

His eyebrows arched up, "Damn."

I nodded and chuckled before he led me outside into the student parking area. Spring had started and even though it was still chilly early in the mornings, it was nice and warm right now.

The car unlocked with a beep and me and him parted our ways to the different sides of the car towards our seats.

"Wait, where are we going?" I asked as I opened my door.

He just smiled in response, "You'll know, just get in."

I knew better than to push him knowing that he won't give in no matter what so shrugging, I hopped in.

Sorry I'm leaving it to that for right now, I only wrote this chapter to destress myself from all the studying and cramming I've been doing. I have state tests and finals all days next week and I'm just about to rip my hair out of my skull.

But instead of that, I chose Arylan to keep myself sane lol.

I know its not as long as the other chapters, but still better than none, right?

Please leave you VOTES AND COMMENTS!

And pray for me to survive through this week, Thanks! I love you all!


	31. Chapter 31

**Hey GUYSSSS, Whats up?!**

**I'm so happy today! Why? I don't even know! I still have my final tests, which I already know I'm going to fail, but lets not think about that and turn towards better things, like me updating earlier for once!**

**Yayy! **

**Ok, ok, enough, let's get to some Arylan, now shall we?**

**Please remember to vote, comment, all that good shiz and I hope you enjoy ~**

**Aria's POV**

The sun was starting to set and the magical colors of the sunset sky were starting to take over. I sighed contently and relaxed down in my seat, enjoying the music blasting and the presence of my very-happy boyfriend, sitting only an arm's length away from me.

I still didn't know where we were headed. After sneaking out of school, Dylan had driven to a restaurant to grab lunch. I nearly attacked him with kisses when he practically ordered every single one of my favorites without even asking me. I hadn't been able to eat lunch at school and I was dying with hunger, but how he had known that, I have no idea. We spend nearly an hour there, stuffing our empty stomachs while making weird faces with our food. I nearly laughed all the food I had eaten when Dylan accidentally dropped his phone in one of those really big glasses that some restaurants have. He was just talking, his hands moving in motion with phone in one when, out of nowhere, it slipped out of his fingers and fell right inside his soda with a echoing _plop_. Dylan just froze there, his mouth opened in shock, his face expressionless as he couldn't seem to process what the hell just happened while I just sat there across from him, trying not to choke on my food due to all the laughter.

People were starting to stare at all our commotion but we dismissed them. As cheesy as it might sound, when I'm with him, its him and him only.

The phone dropping and Dylan's face wasn't even the funniest part yet. It was when Dylan started to struggle to get the phone out of the glass when I nearly lost control. He threw a "Shut up." at my direction with a snarl but then minutes later, started chuckling himself.

Later, after my near-to-death experience with all the laughter, Dylan decided to go to the mall where the Apple store was so he could buy a new phone. His old one wouldn't even turn on. When we got there, we first spent nearly half an hour just messing with every device on display before Dylan finally decided to go up to the counter and bought the iPhone 6 in space gray. I'm glad, now we have the same phone, mine being gold but still.

The moment we had stepped out of the store, some younger looking teens, probably in middle school, approached us, asking Dylan for autographs and pics. Dylan positioned his arm tightly around my waist in all of them, mostly because he kept thinking that the older guy that was along with the middle-schoolers kept glancing at me. I didn't complain too much about his protectiveness, I was starting to get annoyed at how the girls were swooning over him and getting too clingy right in front of me. Hey, guys aren't the only ones who get to be possessive in a relationship, okay?

"What're you thinking about?" Dylan's voice interrupted me of my thoughts.

"About the poor waitress that's going to find your phone in that glass." I grinned. When the phone didn't turn on, Dylan carelessly dropped it back in the soda without another care. I watched the waitress take away our left-overs, along with the glass, all the way up until she disappeared into the kitchen behind the counter.

"You mean the tip I left her with," Dylan nodded his head, his eyes gleaming as they were focused on the road.

I just smiled and shook my head. "Yeah, the generous tip you left her with. Now where are we going again?"

This was probably my twentieth attempt at getting him to spill it already ever since we got in the car. I know I had said before that there was no worth trying since his stubborn ass won't give in but I just couldn't help it. Maybe if I ask him enough times, he would get annoyed and just tell me. But so far, it was a failure as Dylan shook his head.

"Patience, m'lil Ar Ar. " He reached his free hand across and rested it on top of my leg, patting it and then keeping it there. "We're getting there."

My heart beat rose immediately at the warmth from his hand. It made my leg feel all tingly and I couldn't help but smile and appreciate this small gesture of affection from him. I was never the type to be OK with people touching me, especially guys. But with him, it was utterly different. I wanted his touch. It always enchanted me in a way that is hard to put it in words.

Smiling, I turned my head towards the window. Nerves and excitement were bubbling inside me. We were roaming down Sunset Blvd. The scenery wheezing past me as we rode down was absolutely breath-taking. I had seen Sunset Blvd only in movies before, but that could never compare to the experience of actually being here. Palm trees were equally separated, aligning both sides of the street all the way down. All sorts of boutiques, shops, cafes, clubs and casinos were set on either side of the road, masses of people pilling in and out. The sun was setting at the moment, completing the view and the name. This place was so alive.

"Like it?" I could hear the grin in Dylan's voice.

"I love it." I breathed, not looking back at him since I was too busy admiring the view outside of the car window. Was this what Dylan waned to show me? If so, why need to be so secretive about it?

"And no, this isn't what I wanted to show you. We're almost there." He answered, as if reading the question in my mind. I merely nodded, still too astonished by the sprightly environment outside.

After a few more minutes of drive, the sky had turned completely the mixed hues of crimson red, combined with a tint of pink, orange and yellow. I was too busy adoring it when I felt the car come to a jerk. I looked to see that Dylan had parked on the curb and was fidgeting to get something out of his pocket.

I cocked my eyebrow, "What're you doing?"

"Turn around."

"What?"

"Just face the window."

Okay...

"Why?"

"Just do it, please." He insisted.

Hesitantly and a bit confused, I did as I was told and turned my body towards my window, facing away from him. The next second, black invaded my vision as I felt him wrap a blindfold around my eyes.

"Are. You. Kidding. Me?" Came out of my mouth.

I could hear him chuckle. "Its cliche, I know, but trust me, its all going to be worth it in the end."

My hands involuntarily went up to the fold, "B-but I was enjoying the view!" I whined.

I felt his hand envelop mine before I could take the fold off. I could feel his breath fanning the crook of my neck due to the closeness. "No, don't take it off. And stop complaining, this place is nothing."

"But-"

"Just trust me on this, Aria."Dylan sighed, and I felt him drop his forehead on my shoulder. "Just a few more minutes."

I frowned. "OK, OK. Fine. Now let's go already."

"That's my girl." I heard him before I felt a light kiss on top of my shoulder. My heart fluttered at his use of 'my girl' and my skin tingled where he had placed an innocent little peck. When I heard the sounds of him shuffling back on to his seat, I went ahead and re-positioned myself back in mine as well. I felt stupid sitting there with my eyes covered.

"Where are we going?" I asked, now getting increasingly irritated as he led me through what seemed to be like a rocky terrain. Five or so minutes ago, he had told me to get out of the car and then started to lead me somewhere by supporting me with his hold on my shoulders. What was so important that I couldn't even take my fold off to walk to the location by myself?

I was getting too agitated at this point.

"You already asked me that a thousand times, just wait, we're getting there." I heard him behind me, his breath fanning my ear as he gently nudged me to keep walking as he guided me.

I sighed, "This better be worth it, Dylan."

I could almost hear the grin in his voice, "Trust me, it will be."

So for the next few minutes, he kept taking me what felt like uphill, his hands sliding down to either side of my waist since I was in front of him and probably a little higher than him.

Suddenly, I felt the grassy ground beneath me become much more flatter and soon, Dylan's hand brought me to a stop.

"There." I heard him.

My heart picked up speed at wondering where I could possibly be.

"Can I take the blindfold off now?" I asked, my voice sounding merely audible. A gentle breeze hit my face, making my hair blow behind me.

"Here, I'll do it." His hands then went up and started to untie the band at the back of my head. I felt him run his hand down my hair as if to fix them before the fold slid off of my eyes.

I could clearly see the setting sun beam directly towards my sight which made me blink a few times before I could get my eyes to adjust.

But when I did, oh dear Lord.

My breath got caught up in my throat as my eyes gazed at the scene in front of me. The whole world was beneath me, I was on the top. Ok, maybe that's exaggerating it but what I saw in front of my eyes was clearly too much to put into mere words.

We stood a hill higher than where the famous Hollywood sign was built. The white surface of its wide, humongous letters were glowing at this time of the day as it looked back at us. Well, we were looking at the back of it from a higher elevation, but you know what I mean.

That wasn't even the best part. Beyond the sign of Hollywood, I could see every inch, ever lit street, every building of the city. It was true that Los Angeles wasn't as urbanized as New York City, but even I hadn't seen a view like this my entire life when I was there. The sun had nearly disappeared down the horizon and if you looked far enough, which was possible due to the high elevation, you could see the tiny, shiny waves of the ocean past the city.

Wondrous, magnificent, astonishing, jaw-dropping, all those words barely sufficed to describe the miracle that was in front of me. I couldn't get my eyes to pry away.

"Wow..." I breathed. "This sight is so beautiful..."

"It is." I heard him, his voice matching my tone from behind. I noticed that he was standing behind me, not next to me so I turned my face around to tell him to join me. The wind made my hair blow again due to the action.

"Why're you standing there, the view is better up here." I stated, about to extend my hand out to him.

I looked at him and studied that there was something up with him, his whole face looked so calm, peaceful, even content as a smile formed on his lips. He shook his head, declining my offer.

"No," He said, "My view is better."

For a second, I was unaware of what he meant by that, but then once I realized that he was actually referring to me, I looked away and blushed. I turned back to the view, smiling and shaking my head.

"You're missing out on a lot. Just look at the horizon from here." I tried again. His previous comment, along with the way he was looking at me had left my heart jumping inside my chest and I felt my skin burn, despite the fact that a cool breeze was dancing across the entire city.

I heard him sigh, a peaceful one, before I heard the shuffling of his feet. I didn't turn around due to the fact that my face was probably red, but then I felt his arm encompass around my waist as he pulled me back tightly, my back to his chest. He placed his chin on my shoulder and looked out to the city as well.

"I guess you can call this beautiful too." He commented, and I chuckled at his flirting again, wrapping my arms over his that had both of us secured together.

I was so happy right now. So so happy. My heart was pacing but the rest of me was so calm, so relaxed, just so damn happy.

"What're you smiling about?" Dylan cooed in my ear, turning his head so now his face snuggled in my neck.

"Everything." I answered truthfully. I was happy about everything, ever since I had said yes to being his.

"Everything?"

"Yeah, everything." I nodded slightly. "You make me really happy."

I could feel his lips pulling up into a smile against my skin, "And you make me really crazy."

"I do?" I questioned playfully. "Exactly how do I make you crazy?"

"Where do I even begin?" Dylan purred in my ear, his voice a mere whisper, sending chills down my spine as he pulled me even tighter to him. "You make me crazy about everything. I swear, all my nerves lose their control by just a brush of your touch, your smile makes me forget about everything else that is around me, including my own existence-"

"Are you turning into Nicholas Sparks or something?" I asked, dead-pan interrupting him in the middle. What a charming girlfriend I am.

Dylan's body shook against mine as he erupted into silent laughs. "No, gladly no. But you know, you will be the reason if I do end up being like him."

I smiled. "I'm sorry for interrupting, I just couldn't help it."

"Don't worry, I was waiting for you to interrupt. I don't do cheesy and I was about to run out of lines." He stated back.

My mouth dropped open, so he didn't mean any of that? I squirmed out of his arms and smacked him on the chest lightly as he burst into another laugh.

"You shit! I thought you would at least mean them, cheesy or not." He grabbed my wrist mid-air.

"Enlighten me on why you're so violent today." He grabbed my other wrist too, a playful smirk forming already as he started to pull me close to him.

"Not my fault, you just enrage me that's why." I replied, eyes fixated completely on his, equally challenging.

Distance was closing between us, his face nearing mine by the second as I internally started to lose control of my ragged breathing.

"Enrage, huh?" He teased, his eyes dropping down to my lips, which I found myself parting.

"Yes, enrage. The way you make me feel totally infuriates me. Its unfair." I gritted my teeth, complaining. His smirk widened and the last rays of the setting sun made his eyes twinkle with a blend of colors. His hands that had previously gripped my wrists slid down my arms, burning my skin down their path, dropping to grab either sides of waist as he pulled me flush against himself.

"Ditto." Was the last word that came from his mouth before our lips crashed against each other in mutual need and desire. He kissed me with such passion, as if to convey his true feelings through this action. And I understood that, the way I felt towards him cannot be put into words so I returned the pleasure, kissing him in a way to express my feelings towards him.

After today, after everything, there was no denying it anymore. There's no need to run away from it anymore. I had fallen, completely and wholeheartedly fallen for the guy that I was kissing on top of a mountain behind the Hollywood sign. This feeling of acceptance nearly exploded my heart with happiness.

I'm finally saying it, accepting it, no matter how long we might last, in this moment right now, I've fallen in love with him and that's all that matters to me. I'm in love with him. I'm in love with Dylan Sprouse.

I smiled against his lips when he slightly withdrew, my eyes coming in contact with his cheeky smile.

"Wanna know what else is cheesy?" He asked, lightly out of breath due to our recent kiss.

"What?" I know that I had the same resembling grin on my face as well.

"This."

The next thing I know, I'm being hosted off of the rocky ground as Dylan picked me up bridal style and twirled around. I shrieked due to shock at first but then ended up laughing, Dylan joining in soon.

"You cheesy ass! Stop it." I nudged his shoulder when I started to get too dizzy. He laughed and then suddenly, the world around me stopped spinning as he finally came to a stop.

It took me a moment to get my swirling head back together, and when I did, all I could see was him, despite the fact that we were standing on top of a mountain that over-looked the entire world beneath, all I could see was him and him only.

He looked back at me, a small smile on his lips, his eyes focused on mine as if I was the only thing he saw.

I thought I had my nerves back in control now, but his next words knocked it all out of control again.

"I love you." He whispered, voice so low that it could almost blend with the breeze. Emotions dipped from his tongue and I could clearly tell that he meant it with all his life.

I wanted to scream right now. I wanted to yell out in happiness but despite all that want, my voice turned out to be a whisper as well, just loud enough for him to hear it.

"I love you too."

Thatsall for this chapter you guys! I hope, really hope that you liked it!

I MIGHT post the next one later today, but no promises though.

And please, pretty please comment and vote!

I have nearly 7,000 reads so I know my story is being read, THANK YOU FOR THAT! Please, if not more anything more, just tap that little star button to vote, that's all I ask for you.

Thanks again! And I'll see if I can update later, hope u liked all the Arylan-ness in that!


	32. Chapter 32

**So...hello there.**

**Its just me here, updating and all. **

**Hope you like it. **

**Aria's POV**

"Shit, I told you we were gonna be late!" I exclaimed as I looked out towards my house from the car window. Dylan pulled the car to a stop in front of it as we both gazed out. The lights were out, except the one coming from my mom's bedroom window. She must have gotten the call from school that I had left and the fact that I didn't come home neither called her at all through the day has probably left her worried sick. And furiously mad.

"And I'm still telling you that it was all worth it." He replied, with no care that we both were likely to be killed by our parents tonight. After our little love confession, we sat down on the hill and just admired the view, talking about anything and everything. Dylan had brought in some snacks and we had also spent some time taking pictures, most that were goofy. Let's just say that I have a new wallpaper on my phone now.

"But its almost two in the morning." I pointed to the digital clock embedded near the stereo system. He followed my finger and froze, not saying anything.

"Shit." Did he just come to that realization?

Dylan turned his head to take a look at his house and I did as well. Only one of the lights of the rooms on the top floor were lit. I'm guessing that was his dad's.

"Shit," Dylan repeated. "My dad's up."

I turned back in seat to look at him. "You're already grounded! And if he finds out that you got detention, from which you ran away from, you'll be dead by tomorrow morning."

"I know." He exclaimed, his eyebrow pulled together. Then suddenly, his whole entire expression got replaced with a sheepish grin as he looked at me. "But at least I'll die happy."

I narrowed my eyes at him and shoved his shoulder before grabbing my bag and exiting the car. "Don't be cheesy on me again." I muttered, shutting the car door. He followed my actions and walked me to the the porch and front door.

The more steps I took towards the door, the fearful I became towards the possible wrath my mother was planning on throwing at me tonight.

"My mom's gonna kill me." I exclaimed.

"I'm a door away, call me, I'll come running in like your knight in shining armor." Dylan commented, patting his chest.

I climbed the stair of the porch and then turned around to look at him with a scared expression. "I swear, what if she gets too mad and tells me not to see you?"

The chances seemed slim, but you never know what my mother might end up saying when she was mad or disappointed with me.

Dylan grabbed both of my arms, "Then be a rebel and still go out with me."

OK, that statement actually made my heart skip a beat. It was a cute thought.

I grinned and shook my head at him, "You're starting too loose it now, with all the knight in shining armor and shit."

"I started to loose it a long time ago, sweetheart. " He stated, looking into my eyes as his shined due to the moonlight being directly aimed towards them. "You're just realizing it now."

My mind started to divert towards him more as he said that and the way he was looking at me did not help either.

"Better late than never, right?" I smiled at him. He smiled in return and reached his hand over to tuck a loose strand of my hair away from my face. I wasn't surprised to feel the immediate rush of my skin burning and tingling under his simple touch. His hand lingered near my temple and slowly, gently, the back of his fingers slid down my cheek and traveled back to the nape of my neck. He pulled my head closer to his so our foreheads rested on each other's. His other hand cupped the other side of my face and he stroked his thumb on my cheek softly.

"You're mine, for now, for as long as we'll go." Dylan whispered, loud enough so only I could hear him despite the fact that the entire neighborhood was asleep.

My heart fluttered at that as I looked up at him."How long are we gonna go, Dyl?" I found myself questioning as my breathing slowed down in wait of his answer.

For a second, he didn't say anything and just admired me. His eyes roaming around to every corner of my face.

"Asking me that question right now, in this position, will only get you one answer," He then spoke up, eyes twinkling. "Forever. I want us to go for forever. And if not that, I want us to go as long as possible. I won't let this end easily, I'll fight if I have to but I'm not letting go of you any time soon, Aria Evans."

I nearly flew out in to the orbit as I heard those words form on his lips. I can't believe how happy I felt at the moment, actually, I can't believe how in love I felt at the moment. My heart was bursting, almost near to exploding as I couldn't help myself but collide my lips with his.

He immediately responded back, as if waiting for the moment to just happen. Dylan's hands slid down from my neck to my waist as he pulled me closer and I proceeded on to wrapping my arms around his neck.

I didn't hold back any more, neither was I shy to kiss him in a way that would let him know just what he had done to me, just what he had become to me. I was glad that he didn't either, he never did to be honest. He kissed me in whatever way he felt like, he felt comfortable with me and nothing could make me happier.

"Mm, I don't want to let go of you." He mumbled against my lips before resuming his killer kisses. I smiled and kissed him back, I couldn't really talk right now because one, his kissing wasn't going to let me and two, I just didn't want to talk right now. Everything that I wanted to say was being reciprocated through the kiss.

"Too bad, I'm afraid you're gonna have to."

We both withdrew at the same time and looked at each other confused.

"What happened to your voice?" Dylan asked me.

Idiot.

"That wasn't me." I answered. We both turned our heads at the same time towards the front door to see my mom standing there, her arms crossed against her chest as she looked at us, her lips pulled up slightly into a thin smile.

We immediately let go of each other and cleared our throats. Dylan's hand went to the back of his neck as he looked everywhere but at my mom while I just stood there, my cheeks burning.

"M-mom," I stammered. "Wh-what are you doing here so late?" I tried smiling, trying to ignore the fact that my mother had just seen me making out with my boyfriend at two in the morning on our porch.

"I could ask you the same question, but I'm guessing I already have my answer." She replied, walking up to us as she looked between me and my embarrassed boyfriend. His cheeks were tinted just the slightest shade of red and it made him look so cute and adorable that I just wanted to kiss the hell out of him. But I knew better than to do that when my mother was standing just two feet away from us.

"Mom, we were just stuck-" I tried explaining but she cut me off.

"In traffic?" She raised her eyebrow at me.

OK, never mind, I guess she can explain.

Smiling and shaking her head at us, she said, " Oh young love..." She sang. "Been there, done that."

Me and Dylan just exchanged confused glances and looked at her questioningly. Chuckling, she placed one hand on my shoulder and the other on Dylan's.

"Don't worry, you little lovebirds." She exclaimed, smiling. "I'm not mad at you two, just make sure the next time, you don't run away from school and dont arrive this late."

Dylan and I both raised our eyebrows. Did she just say that? She doesn't look mad at all. Am I in some parallel universe?

"Y-you're just letting us go then...?" Dylan asked, confused and still surprised.

"Yes honey," She reached over and patted his cheek. Honey? What's wrong with mom today? "I have no problem with you taking my daughter out, as long as you promise to bring her back safe and sound." She warned at the end.

Dylan took a sigh of relief, a smile forming on his face. "I promise, I will. She's always be safe, don't worry."

"Good," Mom gave him a nod. "Now, its too late and I have work tomorrow, not to mention you two have school. Off to bed, both of you." She demanded in a motherly tone all of a sudden.

"Alright, thanks, Gia. I'll see you in the morning." Dylan smiled and looked at me, winked and walked out.

"Come on now, you too." Mom exclaimed to me, turning around to walk to the door. Sighing, I took a step forward, following her when my arm was grabbed and I was yanked two steps back.

A hard, hot kiss was placed on my cheek as he whispered, "Night, love." and ran away before mom could acknowledge his little stunt. I grinned and shook my head before resuming my way back to the house.

By far, this was the best day of my life.

When I woke up the next morning, I was surprisingly not grumpy at all, which is weird since I had only gotten about three hours of sleep.

With an idiotic, foreign smile on my lips, I jumped out of bed and ran to the window. Thankfully, it was open and I could faintly make out Dylan buried in a deep slumber.

Guess I'm on Mission Wake-Sleepyhead-Up again.

I skidded my way to the bathroom and went through my morning routine before I stepped into the shower. Once I had managed to force myself out of it since the hot water had just felt so good, I tightened the bathrobe around my waist and exited the bathroom.

In about ten minutes or so, I was dressed up in my black leggings, a simple white tank top covered with a navy blue sweater cardigan that had white designs all over it and was just tying my brown ankle boots up before I stepped in front of the mirror and started to work on my hair.

I managed to get it blow-dry before pulling it into a loose bun, few strands escaping here and there. Applying my signature winged-eyeliner and mascara, I grabbed my bag and my phone and strolled out of my room and downstairs.

I wasn't really in the mood of climbing trees today so I decided to use the front door traditionally. Hopefully Cole was up so I can ask him to answer the door instead of waking their parents up.

I could hear clanks coming from the kitchen and I entered to find Zoey sitting on the island, eating a salad with one hand and using her phone with the other. I scrunched up my nose. Who the hell eats salad for breakfast?

On the other side, Mom was leaning on the counter, reaching for something on the shelf nearby.

"Morning, mom." I chirped and made my way to the regfrigerator. Her face turned to me and I nearly jumped to see her narrow her eyes at me, with prominent bags underneath. Not to mention the smudged eye liner made it look that much worse.

"Morning yourself!" She scoffed and left her previous occupation to go sit on one of the island chairs. "Now be of some use and make me some coffee. I've been trying to reach that darned thing from the shelf for hours. I need my coffee right now, I'm near to death. Its your fault I didn't get my beauty sleep anyways." She grunted.

"As you wish, mother." I replied and went towards the coffee maker. I didn't let her moodiness get to me, I was just too happy right now and plus, it really was my fault that she was up till so late last night.

"Wait," I heard Zoey speak up as I placed the coffee filter in. "What do you mean she kept you up?"

"She didn't come home till ate last night and I was up waiting for her till two to find her snogging that boy's face!" Mom sneered.

Gasping I turn around. "Mom!" I stomped my foot. Wasn't she the one who was being so totally cool with the whole situation last night? The fuck happened now?

Mom pointed a finger at me, her eyes almost half closed. "Coffee, Aria. Get me my damn coffee."

"Its brewing." I sighed and turned to see that Zoey wasn't saying anything but just looking at me. Her lips were pulled into a tight thin line and her chest was heaving up and down as if she was breathing hard to control her anger.

I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "What's wrong with you?"

She didn't reply to me, but instead turned her face to mom. "Mom, shouldn't you be at least a little bit concerned."

Mom turned her droopy eyes towards her. "Concerned about what?"

"About Aria being so free now. I mean, c'mon, it doesn't seem really proper for her to come home that late with a guy." She emphasized, glaring at me slightly.

What on earth was she trying to convey here?

"Oh for heavens sake!" Mom scowled and waved her hand off at Zoey. "He's a decent boy, I got nothing to worry."

I smiled at my mom's reply. Sometimes, taking my side really made me believe that she didn't only love Zoey and acknowledged me as well. Perhaps moving here had changed other beside me as well. Zoey blinked, too surprised to get that response as she just squirmed back in her seat.

"Ok, whatever, I was just saying." She shrugged her shoulders, trying to hide the embarassment of her failure to get me in trouble. l smiled smugly before turning back around to the coffee brewing on the counter. Ha! Serves her right for trying to cause trouble in my love life.

Pouring the hot beverage in the mug, I added the cream and sugar in the amounts my mom proffered and then placed the mug in front of her.

"There you go," I chimed, leaning down to place my arm around moms shoulder as she took a sip and sighed with contentment. "May I leave now? I still have to wake Dylan up." I added just so Zoey could get an earful of it.

"Yeah yeah go," Mom carelessly waved off before adding, " and don't skip today or else I'll make sure that-"

"I won't" I cut her off. "Now get some rest after this before working, I'll see you in the wining. " I kissed her cheek before stepping out of the front door, managing to escape Zoeys death glare in the process.

I was greeted by the Spring morning. The clouds hid the sun today, hinting a probable chance of rain after. I started my walk towards the Sprouse residence as I fished my phone out and texted Cole to open the front door for me.

Right as I stepped on the first step, the door flung open to reveal a droopy-eyed Cole who managed to flash a small lazy smile at me.

"Hey Coley-Moley!" I jokingly greeted, ruffling his hair as I stepped into the house.

Cole groaned as he closed the door behind me, "Ugh, Oreo its way too early, shut up."

I grinned and stepped towards the stairs that led upstairs to the bedrooms.

"He's still asleep right?" I asked.

"Yep." Cole answered from the kitchen as he poured some cereal in a bowl.

I climbed the stairs quietly so as not to make too much sound for his parents to wake up. I walked down the hallway and towards the room in the furthest corner. Slowly and carefully, I opened the door and was immediately hit by the scent of his familiar cologne and the sound of his calm breathing.

Longingly inhaling the scent, I closed the door behind me and turned my attention to the bed. Yet again, Dylan was laying on his stomach, his bare back exposed as half his face was buried in his pillows. I gazed at him for a second, taking him in in his peaceful state. His hair was a bit disheveled, but in a way that still made it look good, his eyes closed made his lashes seem longer and his cheeks were slightly red, probably due to the heat of having them buried inside the pillow.

Daww, he looked too calm and peaceful that I almost felt bad for doing what I did next. Almost.

Putting my bad and phone down, I hopped on top of his bed and started jumping on it, making it bounce up and down as Dylan's body started to rock too.

His eyebrows pulled together as he struggled to open them up.

"Hey Dilly Boo" I cooed, randomly forming out the name. "Wakey wakey!"

"Aria," Dylan groaned in his husky morning voice, turning around on his back so now his bare chest came into my view. "What're you doing?" He complained as his body kept rocking due to my jumping.

"Waking you up, we have school today, remember?" I managed to reply.

"Ugh man, what happened to the beach?" Dylan groaned, turning to his side and closing his eyes again.

I finally came to a stop, my legs starting to ache. "Beach? What beach?"

Dylan didn't reply, signaling to me that he was about to fall asleep again. I went ahead and did a big jump closer to his body, making it jerk up as his eye flew open again.

"Stop doing that!" He complained and then before I could see it coming, he grabbed my legs, the impact making me tumbling down until I ended up sitting on him, straddling his lower torso.

"What beach?" I repeated my question as both his hands grabbed mine to entwine our fingers together.

"Nothing, I was just dreaming." He replied, his lips slightly pulling up.

"About what?" I asked.

"About you and me, during summer, on a beach..." He trailed off, smiling at the thought.

I shook my head, smiling as well, "So now I'm coming in your dreams too, huh?"

He flashed his priceless smirk at me and pulled me closer by our entwined hands, "Not really my fault, just so you know."

He arched up to get closer to my lips and I could already tell what was coming. Just when his were mere inches away, his eyes almost closed, I brought out my finger and placed it on his lips, pulling away.

"No, not yet. You need to get up, we have to go to school." I stated, patting his cheek.

He threw his head back into the pillows, groaning and frowning. "I hate you."

"I love you too." I responded, about to get off of him when I heard him grin and pull me back by my hips.

"I love those words coming out of your mouth." He teasingly ran one of his hand down from my hip to thigh. I tried not to hyperventilate at that action of his.

"And I love not getting in trouble so let go of me and get your lazy ass up already," I argued as he just looked at me with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"What?" I asked, confused as to why he was looking at me like that.

"Your eyes..." He trailed off.

"What about them?" I questioned, now even more confused.

"They're so blue..." He trailed off once again, a goofy smile forming on his lips.

I blinked and narrowed my eyes at him, squatting him lightly on the chest. "Dylan, focus and get up, I don't wanna be late again." I finally managed to get off the bed as Dylan sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "I don't think mom would be letting me off again."

Dylan sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Yeah, I don't think dad would be happy with that either."

By the change in his tone, I turned back to face him. he was lost in thought, looking at his duvet absentmindedly. "Last night...what did he say?" I asked.

Dylan just shook his head and got out from under the covers. "Nothing, I should just avoid getting in trouble, that's all."

By the way his expression had completely changed from being playful to dull and mysterious, I could tell that something was up.

I opened my mouth again, "Dylan-"

"I'll be back in ten minutes," He cut me off before pecking my lips and strolling over to the bathroom.

Was something wrong? What had his dad said last night? Did he get in trouble?

Questions started to build up inside of me as I finally registered at least one thing...

With so much happiness, also comes the risk and chances of immense pain afterwards.

**I'm in school, avoiding all the teachers blabbing about finals. **

**I can't man, I just can't anymore. **

**Anyways, there you go with another chapter of Life in LA. **

**Tell me what you thought of it in the comments and don't forget to vote. **

**I'm thinking of ending this book soon, should I do a sequel?**

**Let me know and I hope you all have a wonderful day!**


	33. Epilogue

Read the Note at the end please! Thanks and I hope you'll enjoy!

—-

**Aria's POV **

The girl had striking blue eyes as she looked back at me from the surface of the painted canvas. Her dark black hair flew behind her as her lips were pulled into a small smile. The darker shades of paint on either side of her cheeks indicated the small dimples that the smile had caused to form.

My mouth had dropped open as I stared at the painting in my hands. The face of the girl that was looking back at me was resembling mine in more ways than it should.

After Dylan had closed the bathroom door behind him, I was just looking around when my eyes dropped on the back of a canvas leaning on the wall in the furthest corner. From knowledge, I knew that Dylan was into art. Some of his paintings were hung on the walls and I think he even had a website for them. So, knowing that, curiosity surged inside of me and I walked over and picked the canvas up. A startled gasp had escaped my mouth the moment I turned it around to see the painting.

It was an oil painting of various colors mixed together in the most delicate of shades all over the canvas. Each brush stroke could be visually seen to be accentuated and by the looks of it, anyone could tell that a good amount of time was spent on creating this piece. But, despite the fact that the quality of the painting was extravagant, the thing that had taken me by surprise the most was the fact that the person of who the painting was of looked exactly like me. It was a painting of me.

My heart thudded against my chest. Had Dylan painted this? When had he painted such a thing and why hadn't me told me about it? I don't remember posing for anything so then how the hell did he manage to paint me in such detail without me in front of his eyes?

I'm taken over my a surprise yet again when strong pair of arms engulf around my waist, pulling me back. Dylan snuggled his face into my neck.

"That is just one of the few." He muttered, snuggling me in tight within his embrace. I felt the dampness of his wet hair on my shoulder and the strong scent of his shampoo and cologne. When had he stepped out?

"One of the few?" I questioned. There were more of these?

"Yep, and this one..." He reached one arm over to take the canvas and turn it around. "...was painted about four months ago."

I looked back down at it to see a faint pencil-marked date on the corner of the canvas. He had painted this four months ago. We weren't even together four months ago.

"Four months? Dyl, we weren't even together at that time." I found myself voicing my thoughts.

"Does it matter?" He mumbled against the bare skin of neck, making me shiver at that spot. His hand let go of the canvas and journeyed its way back around my waist.

"It doesn't?" I questioned. "Dylan, why did you paint this?"

I heard him take a deep breath and snuggle in even tighter, his face pressed to the crook of my neck. He arched it up just a little so his lips came near my ear as he finally spoke in a low, hushed voice.

"I draw what I feel, Aria." His breath tickled my skin. "And ever since I've met you, you're all I've felt, you're all I've wanted my senses to focus on."

My breath hitched inside my throat at his words. It wasn't just the contact of his skin with mine that made cold shivers run down my spine anymore, his words had started to have the same effect as well.

"Even when we were, you know, distanced?" I asked.

"Oh God, don't remind me of that." He suddenly said. "I don't want to think of it. I was mad and emotionally unstable all the time. I was trying to forget you but the more I tried, the more I ended up failing. One second, I'm telling myself that you mean nothing to me, but then the next, I find myself in front of a canvas trying to perfect every single brushstroke as I paint you. I had made over a number of your paintings just because of my own pent up feelings. I just don't want to be reminded of that time, it was the biggest mistake of my life."

I remained quite and took in the information. I was still too shocked to find all of that out, or the fact that there were possibly who knows how many of my paintings hidden somewhere in his room. But his last statement had jerked something inside of me and I immediately felt a rush of confidence to finally speak up. Setting the canvas down, I turned around in his arms to face him, placing my hands around his neck and trying to ignore the fact that he looked way too hot in damp hair which were spiky at the tips.

"Don't say that. It wasn't a mistake." I stated.

He craned his neck and looked at me through the steel color of his eyes. "Why are you saying that? I know I hurt you by doing that-"

"Maybe, at the time you did." I cut him off. "But if you hadn't stepped out of my life like that, I would've never noticed how much I actually wanted you to be there, of how much I actually needed you to be with me. And most importantly, I would have never realized my feelings for you either, so stop saying that it was a bad thing. If anything, it was probably the best thing to ever happen to us."

He was intently looking at me the whole time, but towards the end, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you saying that staying away from each other was the best thing to happen to us?"

I smiled, seeing that the tension around us was subsiding. I nodded and pulled my brows together, "Yes, in a way."

He grinned as well, leaning down his forehead on mine. "Ok, then , now that the one secret I kept from you is out, shall we get going?"

"Why would you keep it a secret from me anyways?" I asked, playing with his hair at the base of his neck. I didn't want to think of school right now.

Dylan shrugged. "I don't know, I just thought you'd be creeped out and won't like them."

I shook my head, "Well then, you thought wrong. I loved it, and I love you."

I had to say it. I just had to say it again. The words were common, but they held a meaning to me, a reason. I said them for a purpose, and I said them with every feeling that surged inside of me because of him. I would even repeat them a thousand time if I have to.

Dylan's eyes twinkled and his lips pulled into the brightest smile ever and the fact that I had caused it made me melt inside.

"I love you too, so much."

That's short, way too short, I'm well aware of it. But as I sit here in my Creative Writing class completely ignoring the fact that I have two stories due in three days for my final grade, I wonder if I should just wrap up the book right here and now.

This is on a very short notice, I know, and I apologize. This is chapter 32, and I don't want it to go too long. Plus, not only that, but future ideas for Arylan are just popping up inside me and I feel like that putting them here would just drag it along way too much.

So here's my solution...

I have decided to make a sequel! It would probably be about Arylan progressing in life, learning to grow up and facing their challenges together and that's all that I'll say for now so I won't spoil anything.

Wow, I can't believe this. I am finishing my first book ever. Life in LA is officially ending and I want to thank every single one of you that have read and supported me from the bottom of my heart! If it wasn't for your constant support, I would've probably abandoned the story. And look at me now, about to write a sequel. THANK YOU I LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN FOR THE LIL SEQUEL!

Love,

a very content and grateful author.

P.S. OMG I'm about to click the 'completed' button and then the book will have a check mark next to it, SO EXCITED!

P.P.S The Watty Awards 2015 are coming in soon, I'm thinking of sending my book, should I? If you want me to, I'll need your constant support and votes, thanks again.


	34. Chapter 34

**Hello Fanfictioners! **

**Long time no see, huh? Well, just to clear things up, no this is not a chapter, this is just an Author's note (Don't let that stop you from reading this though!). If that disappointed you, then I'm sowwy. :(**

**And I'm also very very sorry that I still haven't uploaded the sequel yet and actually this note is about the sequel. **

**I know, even though its late now, that its against the FFN rules to write stories based on actual people so for that reason, I will not be posting the second book here. **

**To those who are complaining, I'm sorry, I know I've made a mistake but its too late for me to fix it now. That said, I also don't have the heart to click the delete button, too hard for me since I've put a lot of work and effort into this book. Please try to understand. But if the site wants to delete it, then I've no problem with it, it saves me from the trouble and I'd rather just have them do it instead. **

**BUT, to my dedicated fanfiction readers, no worries! This book AND the sequel to this book, _Never Apart, _is posted on Wattpad! So if you want to read it, all you have to do is create an account and thats it.**

**My account username is: _lovesickbabe28_ and it is littered with Dylan Sprouse's pics. (Surprise there) **

_**Never Apart **_**is posted, but by that I mean the Title, The Book Cover, Description, and everything else is set up along with a note but the actual chapter hasn't been uploaded, not yet because I still have to write it. (Sorry for taking so long!) Still, go check it out, I've posted the date for my first update there. **

**Lastly, if you do make a Wattpad account, please please pretty please VOTE on LIFE IN LA because I have entered the book for Watty Awards 2015. (The Wattys are book awards held every year for those of you who didn't know and I will be more than ever grateful for your support!)**

**Uh...and I guess that's it for now... **

**Thank you thank you thank you once again for all the amazing reviews and for putting a smile on my face for liking my story! I really appreciate it and would definitely love to have all of you back for the second book! **

**Lots of love, **

**lovesickbabe28**


	35. Chapter 35

HEYYYYYYYYYY! 

I'm super tired after typing the chapter for the sequel, so imma make this quick and short...

for all the fanfiction readers,

the first chapter for "Never Apart" sequel to Life in LA is now posted on Wattpad under lovesickbabe28 !

Check it out and remember to share your comments and VOTES!

Sorry for making you struggle to make a Wattpad account in order to read it but this site doesn't allow the story so I didn't post it up here.

Hope you enjoy it though!

xxxxx


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